The Fourth Great Shinobi War
by top
Summary: The world of the Hidden Villages seemed stable, but like so much in the ninja world that was a mere illusion. Sequel to Shadow Alliance.
1. Cold Mountain

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Authors Note: this story is the end of a trilogy and while this world is slightly different than canon at this point I believe it can stand alone. So give it a shot.

* * *

Excerpt from Konohagakure a History Volume V

It is the prerogative of the historian to seek the root cause of conflicts and the Fourth Great Shinobi War is no exception. Many catalysts have been identified for the start of this conflict and certainly there is truth in all of them. In the case of Konohagakure though, the root cause and here I shall depart from most of my contemporaries and state that it was the conflict with An no Kuni which came to be known simply as the Uprising.

The daimyo of this country used its isolation to promote an anti-ninja movement in his country. His goal was to restore the samurai class to the position they had enjoyed before the rise of the ninja and the hidden villages. Having found allies who had agreed with his position mostly for their own gain he was able to arm his army with weapons banned by ancient treaties. One of their first targets was Kirigakure which they attacked by sea.

Although the village was heavily damaged it had the unintended side effect of uniting the other hidden villages in an alliance against the rogue samurai. In unprecedented numbers they descended upon the samurai army and destroyed it. As these events were only months after the Sand Sound invasion, Konoha was still recovering. This was reflected in both the number and quality of ninja that were allowed to participate in the attack. This fact was not missed by the other hidden villages.

Shortly thereafter the machinations that set the stage for the next Great War began. Iwagakure began to fund Otogakure then led by the S-Class Missing-nin Orochimaru which allowed him to pursue a low-grade war against Konoha. This went on for almost two years until Kumogakure an unlikely ally agreed to a secret alliance to attack and remove the leadership of Oto village. With their combined forces this was easily done. Even as Iwa lost their proxy they still made preparations for war.

* * *

Naruto leaned against a tall tree as rain fell gently around him, each of the raindrops making a cracking sound as it froze against the snow. He turned over the ANBU mask in his hands examining it and compared it to the one he was more familiar with from his home village. The Mist masked made no attempt to look like an animal and actually looked very human with a smooth simple painted face, emphasize with geometrical patterns. Although it had no visible eyeholes, when it was on you could see very well. It was actually very similar to the one Haku had worn or at least as far as he could remember.

He was on his first A-rank mission since being promoted to Chunin and his first mission with the entirety of team seven in almost a year. The Mizukage had requested assistance in dealing with some rebels within his ranks. Numbers were unknown, but the list of people he could trust was very short. To the surprise of just about everyone he had turned to Leaf for surreptitious help.

He sighed for the umpteenth time and wished this mission would just be over with. Part of Naruto knew he should be honored that his team had been chosen for the mission, but so far all they had done was just watch a small abandoned mansion nestled by a lake. There were rebels in the mansion, at least two of them, but their orders were not to move in until the people they were waiting for arrived. Unfortunately, no one knew how long that would be.

Turning his head he looked at the rest of the team who were spread out across the hilltop. Kakashi had his head buried in the newest offering from his other perverted sensei. During his last training trip he had been forced to proofread every chapter and still could not understand how it had become a best-seller. Then there was Sasuke. Since the end of the war with Sound he had been leading missions in an attempt to hunt down his brother, but had no luck so far.

That left the two kunoichi. The closest to him was the only Mist ninja on their team and technically their leader. Her name was Mie and she couldn't be any older than he was, but was a Jonin. When they had first met her he had the nagging suspicion that he knew her from somewhere, but he couldn't place her. Part of her face was lightly scarred and he thought he would remember seeing someone that looked like that, but he couldn't place her.

Then there was Sakura. She was the furthest away from him and was reading a scroll. His relationship with her had become complicated. He wasn't sure, but he was pretty sure they were dating. At least he thought they were. They were spending time together outside of missions, but at the same time were they really doing date things? Sure they went out to eat, but sometimes he would pay or she would or they would split it and it seemed more like a friend thing. Of course other times it felt like they were dating. To make things even more complicated as the ship they had ridden to Water Country was docking, they had been talking. Then out of the blue, she had kissed him on the lips.

Okay, she had kissed him before, but that had just been a quick peck on the cheek. This had been different, even if it had been just as quick. He had been so stunned that she had disembarked by the time he had recovered and there hadn't been an opportunity to talk since then. Now he couldn't help but think she was ignoring him. He let out a long exhalation which only barely formed a cloud around him. He was starting to envy Sasuke and Ino's relationship. At least they knew what they were doing.

A hawk startled him as it silently and deftly wove through the trees before landing on a branch near the Mist kunoichi. Hoping it was a change in orders he hurried toward her snow crunching under foot.

Taking the message from the back of the bird, the mask teen silently read the message to herself before crumbling it. "Change in plans. The conspiracy has been broken up and we now know who they're meeting with. We only have to take out the two in there and then we can go home."

"You can verify this," Kakashi questioned.

The girl removed her mask to answer and Naruto was again struck with an odd sense of familiarity. "She added a personal anecdote that only she and I know. The number count between that and the order is accurate."

"All right," Kakashi turned towards the small mansion. "Well, what are your orders?"

The blonde knew it was part of the mission, but he still found it strange that the man he was so used to taking orders from was taking orders from someone the same age he was.

The Jonin in question paused for a second before answering, "They will try to head for the lake so, we're going to let them." With one quick movement she bit her thumb and flashing through hand signs produced two small clouds of smoke. The white clouds slowly dissipated to reveal two crabs about waist high wearing modified samurai armor.

It was at that moment Naruto remembered where he had seen her before. "You tried to kill me!" All four of the people and the two crabs turned their eyes towards him with expressions ranging from confused to annoyed. "At the castle," he said in a much quieter tone trying to explain his outburst.

Mie's expression changed from annoyance to recognition, "You were the kid in orange. I thought you'd be dead by now." She turned to the two crabs as if he had said nothing. "You two are to enter that lake over there by going down the hill to where the trees meet the lake. Then, while you're underwater, you are to make your way to that house and wait under the dock. If anyone, but these people or myself," she gestured towards the entire team, "stand on or go into the water, tear them apart."

The two crabs raised their right claws with a loud, "Yes ma'am," before scurrying off.

Naruto looked down at his drab clothes, wondering if he had been wearing his customary outfit if she would have recognized him. It was childish and he knew it, but he liked being recognized.

Mie turned back to them, "It should take them fifteen minutes but will give them twenty. There's no way to creep across the field so we'll just sprint to the outer wall. You two," she pointed to himself and Sasuke, "stay on the near side. Pinky and I will go around the wall to the other side. We will attempt to enter silently and creep in until we make contact. You hang back," she nodded towards Kakashi. "If they try to escape by any other route except the lake intercept and eliminate." She paused for a second and added, "You have twenty minutes to prepare."

The group broke apart quickly, Mie headed a little downhill and Sasuke and Kakashi joined her. This left Naruto and Sakura alone for the first time since the beginning of the mission. She turned to face him with a small smile, "How do you meet all of these important people? First it was Gaara who became Kazekage. Now it turns out you know the Mizukage's apprentice."

Taken off guard he said weakly, "Yeah, but they always try to kill me."

She slipped her mask on covering her smile, "It seems to me, that the worst your first meeting with someone is, the better it turns out in the end."

The blonde blinked wondering what that meant. "What about us?"

"A perfect example," she replied.

"No, I meant about earlier. You know on the boat."

She paused before turning to face him, the mask making her expression unreadable, "Can we talk about this after the mission?"

He wanted to say no, but that was always something he had trouble saying to Sakura. Fortunately, he was saved from saying that dreaded word by a crackling coming from their waists, "Radio check."

They both responded and before Naruto could ask her again Sakura had gone to join the others. Defeated he joined them and waited with the rest until Mie said, "Alright let's head out. We'll stick together until we hit the wall and separate there. Remember, were trying to sneak in, but if we have to we will smash our way through."

They all nodded, then in a flash they were running down the hill. There was simply no good way to cross a snowy field. The only thing they could hope for was that neither of the two inside was looking out of a window at the moment as they raced toward the building, snow crunching underfoot the entire time.

Breaking into their two teams wordlessly, the two kunoichi split off from the other two heading around the mansion paralleling the wall for cover. Naruto didn't stop running and instead just slammed his back into the hard wall. Glancing over at Sasuke, whose body language was calling him an idiot just caused him to grin under his mask. The two friends waited in silence until the voice of Mie came over the radio giving them the go order.

Both of the chunin jumped to the top of the wall and before Naruto could take in the situation Sasuke snapped, "Window second story."

He jumped onto the roof and Naruto followed. The mansion had not been abandoned for long, but one of the upper windows was slightly ajar and his teammate was able to push it to the side with help from a kunai. They quickly and quietly slipped into the room. Sasuke whispered a quick status report as Naruto took a position at the door listening for any noise.

The only sound he could make out was the rain gently hitting against the building. Still, they were forced to pause at every doorway and check every room. The building was shaped like a rectangle with a single hallway on the second floor. Over the radio the two girls were reporting doing the same thing and with no sight of the enemy. The end of the hallway opened onto a balcony that overlooked a large room and this time Naruto gestured for Sasuke to stay behind as he darted forward. Before he could peek over the edge, he heard a sound of something scraping against metal.

Sliding backward he reported over the radio, "Far end, at least one enemy."

Sakura's voice came over the radio, "We're almost there."

Naruto and Sasuke prepared to jump down as soon as they were given the order, but before it could be given an unfamiliar voice called out, "Is that my sister over there? Why not come out and greet me properly."

For a second the two ninjas shared a glance wondering if they had been found out, but over the radio they heard Mie say, "Shit. Everyone stand down, he's mine."

From where the two were hidden they could hear a shoji screen slide open and Mie's voice call out, "Hello, Tomo."

"Mie, what are you doing here," he didn't seem to sound surprised, but more disappointed.

"I'm following the Mizukage's orders."

"The Mizukage," derision dripped from his voice. "What would father and mother think of you being a lapdog to a pretender? She cares nothing for tradition and is worse than the Fourth. How can you betray everything our parents wanted? You belong here with me."

There was a moment of silence until Mie spoke again, "If you come peacefully and tell us everything you know, I might be able to persuade her to spare your life."

"Our parents would disown you for that. Suigetsu deal with the others, this is a family matter."

A second after the last word was spoken Naruto heard the clash of metal against metal. He was about to jump down to help her when Sasuke jumped back as a thin long blade pierced the floor nearly striking the ceiling. Then with no warning the blade cut towards him tearing up the floor as it went.

He rolled forward and jumped over the balcony to the room below. The room was large and about ten feet from where he landed stood the two dueling Mist ninjas. There two swords flashed back and forth and it was beyond his comprehension who had the upper hand. Behind him was a wall of shoji screens one of which exploded outwards and for the second time that day Naruto rolled away from a blade that would have cut him in two.

Rolling to his feet he eyed his attacker. He was a teen, probably a little older than himself, but what really stood out was his hair which was pure white. The sword he wielded was as long as he was tall, but still had the shape of a normal katana. He pushed some hair out of his eyes which were a violet color. "Twice, I have missed hitting someone today. Must just not be my day," he smiled showing serrated teeth like a shark. "Well the third time's the charm."

The muscles in his arm suddenly increased to three times their normal size and he moved the large sword as if it weighed nothing, but before he could attack shuriken rain down upon him. Blocking the incoming projectiles with his sword he was wholly unprepared for the follow-up attack. Sasuke who had thrown the weapons jumped off the balcony to the ceiling flashing through hand signs and producing the Phoenix Flower Jutsu.

Apparently he had no faith in blocking flames with his sword and instead retreated a half a step ahead of the fiery barrage. Just as he was about to run out of space Sakura darted forward in a zigzag pattern and landed a punch directly against his chest. The blow Naruto knew should have sent him into the wall, but he seemed to morph into water and her fist passed through him and smashed into the wall creating a sizable hole.

It took him a second to reform the disrupted water and by the time he was changing back into himself, Naruto had already created a clone and was charging at him with a Rasengan. When spinning chakra hit water the affect was interesting. The majority of the mass shot through the whole while the rest went in just about every other direction including soaking him. For a second he thought it was over, but even as he watched the body started to reform and he stepped through the hole quickly followed by his two teammates.

Naruto wasn't sure what to do as the body reformed. The teen still had his sword, but he was panting now and scooped up a handful of snow and placed it in his mouth. Surprisingly this seemed to revitalize him a little and he stood a little straighter.

"I think I know this guy." Sakura's voice came softly over the radio as if she was whispering. "He was one of the people Orochimaru was experimenting on. They were keeping him in a tank and were running a mild electrical shock through it to keep him in his liquid form."

"Gotcha," Sasuke replied.

Naruto spared a glance through the newly made hole. The two ninjas were still going at it seemingly ignoring everything that was going on around them. Even as he watched Mie who was the smaller of the two was kicked in the stomach. This sent her flying backwards onto the deck right over the lake.

He was just about to create some clones to help her out when their opponent made his move. His sword arm extended its length and he tried to cut all three of them in half, but was blocked by Sasuke's sword. After stopping the initial blow Sasuke channeled electricity into his sword. The two swords acted like lightning rods and it had the effect Sakura had said it would. The body dissolved into a puddle.

Unfortunately, before they could capitalize on that the puddle shot away heading for the lake. The wall only surrounded the mansion on three sides and it actually built several feet into the lake so there was no barrier to his escape. For some reason Naruto knew that something bad would happen if he was able to merge with the lake.

Sasuke flashed through another series of hand signs and this time Naruto recognize the signs for the Great Fireball Technique. It became a race between the amorphous blob and the large fireball. His eyes watered and by the time the fireball hit he couldn't tell if the steam that rose was from the water, the snow or had it hit the lake. Darting foreword he tried to get a better look.

A large swath of ground was now barren of snow, but he couldn't tell if the enemy had been hit or not. Again he heard the clashing of swords and jumped up onto the wall that jutted into the lake. Before Naruto could decide on what to do to help her she swept his legs out from under him. Tomo he remembered she had called him, rolled away and into the water.

Normally, this probably would've been a good thing for him, but he disappeared under the surface and a second later the water churned. Seconds later a dark liquid seemed to rise to the surface. Naruto was frozen not knowing what to do as his two teammates joined him. There was a long moment of silence as the two crabs rose to the surface. She dismissed both of them upon sight and turned towards her Konoha allies and shouted, "Did you deal with the other one?"

Her voice sounded strange as it was on the verge of cracking and Naruto wondered why she just didn't use the radio. He glanced between his two teammates wishing one of them would answer and it was Sakura that summoned up her courage first. "Unfortunately, we can't be sure. He was able to transform himself into water. Sasuke may or may not have evaporated him before he could get into the lake."

"Fine, we're going to report to the Mizukage." She turned and disappeared into the building. The three members of team seven didn't say anything as they all started to come down from the high of a battle.

Kakashi had positioned himself in the middle of the field and as he saw them leave through the gates of the mansion he approached them. Mie came out a minute later her expression unreadable under her mask, but she made no effort to join them. Before he could say anything though there was a loud roaring from behind them and they all spun in unison.

The water in the lake was quickly forming into a huge wave of impossible proportions. It was already cresting over the mansion and on top of it was the upper half of the ninja they had thought they had defeated. Before any of them could react it started to move forward turning the building into kindling as it ripped through it.

For a brief second Naruto wondered if he had enough time to attempt a Rasenshuriken, but before he could even create one clone something bizarre happened. The space in front of the wave seemed to twist, at first he thought it was a prelude to an attack, but then the twisting space began to suck in the water as if a drain had been inserted at the top of the wave.

The massive onslaught of water was easily cut in half and then it crashed. It quickly dispersed over the ground and by the time it hit them it barely splashed over their ankles. Naruto spun back around as he heard Kakashi fall to one knee. "Sensei," he cried out running to his side.

The man groaned and covered his one eye, "I really didn't want to use that."

Not knowing what else to do, Naruto patted him on the back and turned to Sasuke, "I guess you missed."


	2. Tipping Point

"Victory at any cost. Peace at any cost. Two diametrically opposed statements and yet there's no difference between the two of them." Excerpt from the Changing Tides memoir of the Six Mizukage.

* * *

Kisame Hoshigaki admired the destruction in front of him from beneath a bamboo hat, "Looks like we missed the fun."

His partner and the only one around to hear him didn't give any acknowledgment of his words and simply turned and walked away. "There is nothing for us here," he stated after he had taken several steps.

The missing-nin from Kirigakure turned back to the scene in front of him. The mansion was little more than kindling now and the lake itself seemed unnaturally low. Even with the gently falling snow softening the image the scar of battle couldn't be hidden. It brought a smile to his face. Turning to walk away he nearly collided with a smaller man wearing a mask. "Sir," he said surprised.

"Nine Tails and Sasuke were here a few hours ago, but neither of them did this damage. Sasuke was not particularly impressive. He's like a dull kunai," the man stated with no preamble as if they were just continuing a conversation.

"Do you want us to go after them?"

"No," the former Mizukage responded. "How is he?"

"He goes in cycles, but pretty good right now." He referred to Itachi and his growing mental instability.

"Sasuke may only be on par with Itachi, but perhaps the truth will function as a grindstone for him."

To the taller ninja surprise, he felt a pang of regret at the thought of the death of his long-term partner. Then again, it was not guaranteed he would lose the fight. "What should we do about the village?"

"They no longer possess a Jinchuriki. Whether they enter the upcoming war or not, doesn't change our overall strategy." Kisame subconsciously glanced at his partner retreating back and even though it had only been for a second, when he looked back, the former Mizukage was gone.

* * *

The journey to Kirigakure was uncomfortable, at least for Naruto. Kakashi needed help to move. Mie was in a dark mood and he had the distinct impression that if he said something to her, he might become a few inches shorter. Sakura seemed to be ignoring him still and Sasuke was brooding about something. He was starting to look forward to the end of this mission and fortunately their destination was not too far away.

Without warning the mountain pass suddenly opened up into a broad vista with a village below. He stopped in his tracks at his first view of the village, formally known as Bloody Mist. It was not what he had expected. There were several tall buildings which were taller than anything in Konoha. What drew his attention though was the construction on the largest building where people the size of ants seem to be putting on a roof.

"Naruto come on."

Sakura's voice pulled him out of his appreciation of the view and he jogged after the group which had continued down the path without him. For some reason, Naruto thought that entering the village would be more difficult than it turned out to be. Mie simply raised her mask and they were able to walk right past the gate. Even though she set a brisk pace he found himself trying to look at everything as they walked.

For a village that had produced Zabuza it looked remarkably peaceful. At one point they were even waylaid by a group of children kicking a ball around. The children dodged and weaved between the five of them until Sasuke manage to kick the ball down the street which sent the little horde chasing after it. No, he thought watching the kids chasing the ball; this was not what he had imagined at all.

Upon entering the large building Mie took them to a large room where she told them to wait. The room was opened on one side with the view of the village and of the sea in the distance. On the other side was a mural that reflected the view. The only thing that obscured the mirror copy was four large statues. Standing almost ten feet tall their heads brushed the ceiling except for the fourth which seemed to be a short person and the first who simply disappeared from the waist up.

As Sakura helped Kakashi to lean against one of the platforms the statues rested on Naruto wandered over to the partially destroyed figure. He stared up at the sculpture and wondered why it had not been repaired. Then a gentle voice spoke up from behind him, "I suppose I should order that repaired, but I can't say I really care if we honor the first Mizukage or not."

Naruto spun to find the owner of the voice to be a middle-aged woman with hair so long it almost touched the floor. "Mizukage," he said stupidly.

"My fame has reached all the way to Konoha? Well that's only to be expected," she smiled and while it seemed warm, it also seemed dangerous.

Before the newly promoted Chunin could make a fool out of himself with his ignorance, Kakashi spoke up, "Mizukage it is an honor."

"Copy Ninja Kakashi," she smiled and walked over to his team's leader so silently it was almost creepy. "My apprentice spoke well of you, but that only fits your reputation," the woman held out a scroll for him to take. "Kirigakure will maintain its disinterest in the affairs of the continent. Take this scroll and deliver it to the Hokage in person."

"I shall do as you request," Kakashi said standing straight with effort.

"Excellent," she smiled and again to him it seemed warm, but he couldn't shake the impression that if she wanted to she could kill everyone in the room without hesitation. "You are exhausted. Please stay here tonight and we will provide you with transportation so you can catch the midday ship to the continent tomorrow."

"We graciously accept your hospitality," Kakashi said giving an almost imperceptible bow.

On the very edge of Naruto's mind he knew something significant was happening here, but he didn't know what. Whatever it was, he knew they weren't just talking about sleeping arrangements.

* * *

The newly installed Tsuchikage was a young man, young enough that many had doubted his ability to tackle the internal problems facing Iwagakure. As the first non-clan individual appointed to his position he had brought a fresh perspective. Unfortunately, any major policy changes required the approval of the Clan Council and they were a large part of the problem.

Entropy was the real problem facing the village. Iwa had always believed that numbers were superior to quality. The theory was that their village could flood the market with cheap ninja for hire, undercutting the other villages and forcing them to reduce their numbers. It had not been a bad strategy but, they had underestimated two things.

First as they concentrated on producing as many ninjas as possible their average quality was lower than normal. The other problem was a simple lack of funds. As they charged lower rates for missions that meant both the village and the individual members of a team were paid less. As a result they had to raise their mission's rates negating their size advantage. Thus started a cycle where they relied more and more on The Land of Earth for financial support. Occasionally, the previous Tsuchikage had made attempts to break the cycle. However, in the end none of the clans were willing to accept higher standards for graduates because it could end up hurting their clan.

They were all useless in his opinion and when that samurai problem started south of the border, it had come as no surprise that more than a few officials in the government of their host country had been sympathetic. Still, more good had come out of that than bad. They had learned how hard Leaf had been hit by the Sand and Sound war.

At the time Onoki had still held the title of Tsuchikage and he arranged a secret alliance with Orochimaru. They had provided him with Ryo and low-level ninja so he could pursue his war against his former home. About halfway through this alliance Onoki had stepped down and he had taken his place. Shortly thereafter the leadership of Sound had changed and their alliance had disappeared like the light from a candle in the wind.

Given the situation a quick attack on Konoha was still out of their reach, but fortunately two months earlier a strange man had appeared in his private quarters. Anyone who had the ability to not only sneak into Iwa, but to sneak past his guards was impressive. Fortunately, the masked man had not been an assassin, but instead he offered an alliance of sorts. He promised much and provided them with intelligence that allowed them to cement an alliance with Hanzo of the Salamander of all people.

He didn't trust the man, but in the short term their goals were the same and more importantly if they couldn't expand their sphere of influence, his much beloved village would end up collapsing under its own weight. Now all he had to do was get the final approval from the Clan Council, which he was just about to do. Taking one last deep breath he opened the door that led into the council's room.

The room was reminiscent of a lecture hall with ascending rows of seats. Being stared down upon by thirty men and women was a different type of intimidation then facing an equal number of opponents on the battlefield. It took a supreme effort not to make eye contact with his allies on the council. Instead he started by telling them the state of the village. He told them nothing they didn't already know and then he started to tell them of his plan.

The distraction of Konohagakure had always been one of their long-term goals and it was no secret that they had been working towards it. The alliance with Hanzo was new to those who were not already his allies, but all could see the obvious advantage of having a direct entrance into the Fire country.

There was silence after he finished speaking and then the newest member of the Clan Council a man named Musashi, spoke up from the back row, "Your plan relies heavily on tying up Suna, but if this kidnapping attempt fails, does this not destroy your entire plan?"

The Tsuchikage was ready for this question. The two of them had worked on the wording to be most beneficial for his cause. "Since the attempt is being made by a third-party, if it fails then we can call off the attack. Hanzo can continue his alliance with Konoha and it will be as nothing happened."

"And you expect Kumo to stay out of this little conflict," this objection came from the Ishi clan representative. They were a former ally of his, but after losing two of their more talented clan members on a mission they saw as beneath them they had turned bitter enemies.

"Kumo would only gain by the distruction of Konoha and given their tendency to only act in their best interest," he trailed off, allowing each member to remind themselves of that village's history. "Staying out of this particular war would be to their benefit." That had not been a question he had been anticipating and he would've preferred to end on a high note, before calling for a vote.

In the end though, the unexpected question did nothing to change the vote. Overwhelmingly, it was in his favor. Few truly wanted war, but it was better to put everything on one gamble than to accept a slowly withering death for their village. In ten days time there would be war and if all went according to plan, in two months he would stand within the ruins of Konoha.

* * *

Naruto leaned against a window high up in the Mizukage's palace. From here he could see the lights flicker out from the village below as people turned in for the night. Sasuke and he were sharing a room and his teammate was quietly in a corner working his way through a kata. His thoughts were neither on the view or his friend, but instead on the girl next door. Fed up with waiting he touched the necklace around his neck that showed he was a personal guest of the Mizukage and marched out of the room.

The blonde was not known for his patience and he had been confused long enough. Knocking on Sakura's door he waited impatiently for it to open. As soon as it cracked open he blurted out, "Sakura are we dating?"

Her green eye's blinked tiredly at him and she leaned against the door frame. She gave him a small tired smile. "Naruto, when I first heard we were going to be on the same team I thought I would never like you. Then I got to know you and started to think of you as a friend, if occasionally annoying," she rubbed one of her eyes and yawned. "When you went away on that training trip and I didn't see you for months at a time, I missed you." She shrugged, "I am not sure what that meant, but I do know I would like to go out with you on an official date."

At that moment Naruto felt like he could fly. "But," Sakura interrupted what he was about to say, "For our first official date, you can't take me to Ichiraku. We can go there on our second date or third, but for the first date you have to take me to a place where I cannot see the food being prepared."

"There are such places," Naruto said with a small smile only half joking.

The kunoichi laughed, "You'll do fine. Now though I'm tired from healing our sensei and have to rest up so that we can leave tomorrow. Goodnight Naruto."

"Goodnight Sakura," he turned around to leave.

"Wait," she called out and when he turned back around she stepped forward.

The blonde suddenly felt nervous and for some reason he suddenly remembered that there was about an inch difference in their height right now. Then she was close, really close and then she was leaning up and their lips were touching and he couldn't think what he should do. After a second, a moment, an hour she broke it with a small smile. "We'll have to work on that, but we have time. Goodnight." Turning she walked back into her bedroom and with only a glance over her shoulder closed the door behind her.

For a second he stood in the hallway. Sakura had kissed him, and they were going to kiss again. His smile threatened to split his face. Returning to his room he hopped onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling not quite believing what had just happened.

"You're in a good mood," Sasuke commented as he finished his routine.

"Sakura and I are going to go out," Naruto said hardly believing the words himself.

"Good, Ino has been bugging me to give you advice about that. Now I don't have to."

Sitting up the blonde looked at his friend disbelieving, "You? Didn't you only meet her because she was your kenjutsu partner?"

Sasuke flicked the lights off near his bed and said, "Say what you like, but when I get back, I have an anniversary to celebrate."

Naruto was in too good of a mood to argue and instead he just stared at the ceiling trying to imagine how his first date would go. Time ticked by and not surprising sleep didn't come. Eventually he sat up in his bed and decided to go for a walk. The only restrictions that had been placed on their movements were they had to stay on the top floor. Given the size of the building that meant there was a lot of room.

The hallways were slightly curved and after he had traversed a quarter of the way around the building, the hallway opened up into a large room that lacked a ceiling. Glancing up at the sky he picked out the constellations he remembered from his Academy days. After a minute he noticed that there was a person standing upon a bare rafter. At first he thought it was a guard, but after a second they seemed familiar.

Not really thinking he ran up the wall and seconds later he was standing a few feet away from the person. "Mie," he questioned upon seeing the scarred face.

She turned towards him, "Naruto, right?"

"Yeah, um what are you up to?" He suddenly wished he hadn't said that.

"Couldn't sleep," she didn't say anything after that for a minute, but as soon as Naruto was about to leave she added, "We were twins you know."

"Really?" Naruto didn't know what to say and for once he didn't try to fill the silence.

"Everyone thinks twins are supposed to be identical. Well, we just looked like siblings," her tone had lightened as if she found some humor in what she was saying. "We were pretty close though, even knew what the other was thinking most of the time. I think it kind of freaked out our parents."

"Cool," he didn't know if that was appropriate, but this time he felt like he had to say something to fill the silence.

"Yeah, I guess. Our parents were what are called, Old Guard. They didn't like the changes that were going on in the village. They would talk about it endlessly. My brother and I didn't really know what they were talking about and before we started at the Academy, they didn't care to explain it."

She let out a sigh, "We were the best, at the Academy. I took first place and he was right behind me and don't think I ever let him forget about that," she glanced over at him and gave him a small smile, "siblings?"

"Orphan."

"Well, then you wouldn't know."

Although she probably meant nothing by it, her words hurt. He may not know exactly what it was like to have a sibling, but sometimes he liked to imagine that Konohamaru was his little brother.

"I don't know why, but a few months before graduation, the Mizukage asked me to become her apprentice. My parents were excited and that confused me, since I thought they hated her. They wanted me to get close to her I think. Close enough that I could assassinate her." She paused for a second and added, "That's the way they were. Not that they ever told me outright. They weren't exactly open people and they raised us to be the same."

"That's not right," he wasn't exactly sure which part he was objecting to, but it didn't seem like the way a family should act to him.

Surprisingly she chuckled, "Yeah, I was just starting to put that together myself. The Mizukage is actually a pretty decent person. I think she was more of a mother to me then my mother was."She trailed off and shifted her gaze towards the sea in the distance. "Then they came, those ships. They sailed from the other side of the continent, just to attack us."

Naruto knew this part of the story. The Mist had been attacked by sea. Jiraiya had told him that even his extensive network of spies couldn't determine the extent of the damage that had been inflicted upon the village.

"My father was one of the first to attack the ships and he was killed. My mother died in one of the follow-up attacks." She paused for a second before adding, "My neighbor's apartment was hit. I wanted to help them and I rushed in. They weren't even there and I got this for my trouble," she raised a hand to the scarred side of her face.

"I'm sorry."

She was silent for a second before saying, "It's not like you did anything." Shaking her head she continued, "I was so angry. I even forged a medical fitness report just so I could participate in the attack on the castle."

"Then you tried to slice me in half," Naruto supplied.

Mie seemed to smile sheepishly at that as she said, "Yeah, sorry about that. Whatever happened to that Kumo ninja you were with?"

"Otonashi, we've run into each other a couple of times. He's still my friend." In fact Otonashi had ended up being a key player in the alliance between his village and Kumo when they had jointly attacked Oto, but he didn't feel like explaining all of that. "Whatever happened to your other teammate?"

"Hideaki? He died."

"On a mission," he questioned. The blonde felt a pain of regret hearing of her teammate's death. After he had almost been cut in half by one of her summoned crabs, her teammate had been the one to diffuse the situation.

"No, he died of cancer."

"Oh," being a ninja meant routinely putting your life on the line and it seemed strange that one wouldn't die in battle or of old age, but something that could take anyone.

"They were the same," Mie said cryptically.

"What," Naruto responded confused.

"Those samurai and my brother, there the same," she clarified. "Both of them believed in what they were doing and that's why they did what they did."She paused for a second and added, "Maybe that's why I feel the way I do? My brother and I were too different in the end. But we both fought for what we believed in. Our conflict was inevitable."

He thought about that for a second, "That's kind of sad."

Mie was silent for so long he wondered if she had heard him, but then she answered, "At least he died fighting for what he believed in."


	3. Bonds

The bonds formed within teams and among ninja in general provide unique challenges. On the one hand, familiarity allows a team to work smoothly, but at the same time familiarity can hamper their ability to carry out some missions. This is why ANBU wear masks.

Excerpt from the ANBU handbook.

* * *

Kakashi Hatake would be more than happy never to ride on a horse again. Kirigakure had at first offered him a palanquin to travel from their village to the dock, but he had found a horse slightly less humiliating. Unfortunately, he was unfamiliar with horses and it had proven to be uncomfortable. Now, he intended to stay in his cabin until the ship docked. The scroll that the Mizukage had entrusted to him was still a comforting weight in his vest.

The door to the cabin creaked open and Sasuke stepped in. Closing his one good eye, the Jonin quietly tucked his book away knowing he wouldn't be able to read anytime soon. Wordlessly, his former student pulled his sword free and sat on the bunk bed across from him. The four of them shared this cabin, but his other two students were somewhere else on the ship.

His raven haired subordinate allowed his scabbard to thump against the floor as he placed both of his hands upon it assuming a thinking posture. For a moment, the only sounds in the cabin came from the dull throbbing of the engines and the creaking of the wood. "So," Sasuke's voice pierced the silence, "What exactly was that?"

A younger Sasuke would not have waited this long his sensei reflected. "Well, I'm sure you don't think just because I spend some time training you that I neglect my own training." Sasuke still had an impressive glare, but as always, it had no effect on him. "Kamui," he supplied. "It's not something you'll ever be able to do."

"Mangekyo Sharingan, how did you awaken it?"

"Is that what it's called? Well, nice to finally place a name to it." He closed his eye to hide his amusement. "Your family was not happy about me having this eye. Obito's father, however, explained some things to me and even helped me to train, a little." Unconsciously, he rubbed the eye that had once been his friends, "I was told that I could gain a maximum of three tomoe."

"Clearly you didn't believe him."

The gray-haired man shook his head. "I did, but I was practicing one day and it felt like," he paused thinking back. "Like, when I woke the third tomoe, but different. So I kept pushing and then it happened, what I later called Kamui."

"It doesn't work that way," Sasuke interrupted. "My clan's records were very clear on that."

Sasuke's fingertips turned white, Kakashi noticed absently. "I can only tell you what happened."

"To awaken, the Mangekyo Sharingan requires the death of someone close to you. It can't just be anyone. It has to be like you die yourself."

"Really," Kakashi rested his head against the wall. "We're used to thinking of Kekkei Genkai as weapons used for battle, but really they're just another way to survive. I've heard of a few examples where somebody awakens power unknown to their clan right before they are about to die. Perhaps the Mangekyo Sharingan is something like that."

"That doesn't explain how you were able to attain it," Sasuke said tiredly.

"Oh, but I did." He closed his one eye not wanting to talk about this, but knowing he had to. "Obito," he sighed "Was staring death right in the face. Perhaps at some level, he awoke the Mangekyo Sharingan, but didn't have the ability to control it. The ability remained dormant until I gained the ability to control it."

"The family records are very specific. It has to be the death of somebody close."

He paused, thinking and wondering if Sasuke could really understand his theory, "The bond between parent and child, sibling or even friends is powerful. I've heard of cases where somebody knows that something happened to someone though they're miles away. It's like a little death. Maybe experiencing that is what awakens the Mangekyo Sharingan."

Sasuke was silent for a long time. So long that, in fact, the Jonin wondered if he could go back to his reading when the teen finally broke his silence. "So you think that when a Sharingan user is about to die, the power of the Mangekyo is some last ditch effort to survive? However, so few have the ability to use it, that it went unknown."

"It's just a theory." Kakashi added hoping he would drop the subject.

The young Chunin stood and headed for the door saying, "That almost makes sense."

Before he could open the door, it swung open and Naruto darted in, almost colliding with Sasuke, but spun away at the last second. Without missing a step, he jumped onto the top bunk bed that Kakashi was under and it gave a suspicious groan that the Jonin could only eye warily.

"What's up?" Sasuke demanded.

Naruto hopped off the top bunk, the frog wallet he still used in his hand. He was now dressed in what passed for his normal clothes. Orange pants with a black and orange jacket under the Chunin vest he wore proudly. His vest was a bit unusual, as it was made out of orange fabric, the same color as his pants.

"There's a restaurant on board and she said that I can take her there on a date," with that said, he darted back out of the cabin showing he still had all the energy of a little kid.

When he was gone, Sasuke just stared at the door for a moment and Kakashi couldn't help himself. "You know, I always pictured you behaving the same way right before you went out on a date." The death glare he received made his eye curve upwards in a smile as he turned his attention back to his book.

* * *

Neji Hyuga leaned against a corner of the Academy building. He wasn't trying to spy. At least that's what he told himself, he just didn't want to disrupt Tenten's class. His teammate, or at least that's how he still thought of her, was teaching a weapons class to the youngest Academy students. There were maybe two dozen students standing in six rows.

They were practicing throwing shuriken and Tenten was watching them like a hawk. She praised them when one would actually hit the target and corrected them when they did something wrong. He had never actually seen her teach a class before and she almost seemed like a natural. Still, as he watched her he could tell that she was only content, not happy. His teammate was too young to make this her profession.

Moments later, the class was picked up by their sensei and was led back into the building, too much groaning from the students. Tenten stared after them for a moment before turning and starting to pick up the shuriken.

"Don't just stand there, give me a hand." she said without looking over at him.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Neji's mouth as he started towards her, "How was class?"

"That class mostly comes from a civilian background, they need a lot of help." she emphasized a lot.

Neji bent down and picked up several of the discarded weapons. They were metal and weighed properly, but when he ran his thumb along where there should be a razor-sharp edge all he felt was smooth metal, "They're not using real weapons yet?"

"Oh, if these things had blades, there'd be blood all over the place." she said turning to give him a slight smile.

The two ninjas picked up the weapons in silence. Very few of the shuriken had made their way into the baskets that signified a critical point on the body. Once they were done, he followed her to the shed where she put away the weapons and he asked, "Do you ever intend to go back onto active duty?"

She glanced over at him, annoyed, "Yeah, I just need a little break."

Neji silently read her body language. They were walking side by side and Tenten glanced away from him and looked at the ground. He decided cutting to the chase would be the best thing to do, "You are not responsible for Lee's death."

"Everyone tells me that." she snapped at him.

That was true. He had told her that, as had their former team leader Guy and probably many more. "And yet you do. How long do you intend to punish yourself?"

"I'm not punishing myself I'm just." she trailed off.

"It was bad luck, nothing else." The mission that Lee had died on was at the very end of the war with Sound. Their team had attacked a prison of Orochimaru and had found out, belatedly, that some of the prisoners had been experimented on. One had gone on a murderous rampage and although they had managed to trap it temporarily, as they withdrew, it managed to trap Lee. By that time, Tenten had already planted explosives and there had been nothing they could do.

She was silent for a second, probably remembering that day as he was. "I think about it a lot."She shook her head, "There had to be another way."

Neji was silent for a minute. "We can't change the past, just learn from it." Then he did something that was rather uncharacteristic of him, he changed the subject. "When you choose to come back, I could really use some help with my Genin team. They're a real handful.

Gratefully accepting the change in subject, she smiled, "Is it true they failed a D rank mission?"

The Jonin briefly wondered if there was anyone in the village who hadn't heard about that yet. "They didn't technically fail, but the cost of collateral damage reduced the mission fee to zero." Actually, their pay had been docked for several missions because of it, he remembered with some irritation. "You see, the mission was to remove a yellow jackets nest that was in the ground. Well, when they were searching for it, Akako stepped on it. The wasps, understandably upset, attacked the three of them."

He paused for a second, enjoying seeing Tenten smiling again. "Well, one of them," so far none of them had admitted to it he remembered. "Threw a kunai with an exploding note attached. The resulting explosion took out the hive and apparently a rather valuable apple tree." At least his former teammate had the decency to at least try and hide her amusement.

She turned away from him and said, "And where were you during all of this?"

"I was talking to the client. I thought they were able to at least find the nest without any trouble." That last detail was actually the detail that made the story so famous. Most Genin teams had similar stories in their past, but they were rarely so public.

The formation of Genin teams started with placing the two highest-ranking students with the lowest. This process continued onwards with the only exceptions being the occasional formation of a specialized reconnaissance team or something similar. This process generally resulted in a few teams of mere average ability. His team had actually been on the lower end of that spectrum and would've probably been sent back by most other Jonin. However, their enthusiasm had reminded him so much of Lee that he couldn't turn them back. Instead, he had resigned himself to teaching them for six or seven years.

"Well, I hope their next mission goes better for them."

"They should, they don't have to technically do anything." She gave him a quizzical look and he explained, "I've accepted a mission to inspect two small dams in the Grass country. With my family's Kekkei Genkai it's a fairly simple task to look inside the dams and search for structural weaknesses."

"Your Genin won't have anything to do though," Tenten said confused.

Neji smiled, "I'm planning for it to be a two-week survival class with some training thrown in."

* * *

Hanabi Hyuga's eyes slowly roamed over the familiar characters upon the memorial stone. Hinata Hyuga, her sister. She had died on a mission three years ago. In one year's time she would be older then her older sister. Closing her eyes she tried to imagine her face, but she couldn't. Images from photographs came easily enough, but a real memory, like the last time they had eaten breakfast together, that was harder. "I'm forgetting her."

For a second, her companion said nothing and she thought she wouldn't receive a response when he spoke. "What makes you say that?"

She hesitated for a second, but her companion seemed to understand loss better than herself. "Sometimes I can't picture her face. We sat across from each other at breakfast and dinner for years, but when I think back, it's a blank."

He was silent for a second before answering, "I don't remember every moment with Raiga, but I remember the important ones. Those are what you have to remember."

Hanabi exhaled almost defiantly. She didn't want to forget anything. Her relationship with her sister had not been the best and she regretted that. Her sister and she had not been close, but Hinata had been the closest thing she had to a friend for years, and it wasn't until she was gone that Hanabi really appreciated her. The young Hyuga wanted to express that somehow, but as she turned to face her companion, her words fled her. Instead she said, "Thanks Ranmaru. For coming with me." she added.

"It's what friends are for."

As they turned away she wondered about that. Her friendship with Ranmaru had come about in an odd way. About a year ago her team had made a bet with Ranmaru's and the two had faced off in a spar. She had lost, badly and what little rapport she had with her team had been destroyed. Shortly thereafter, her father had ordered her to spy on him and learn what she could about his Kekkei Genkai. At the time, she had been at a low point in her life and before she could even think of carrying out her father's order, Ranmaru who had learned about her mission had offered her a deal.

He would introduce her to his friends and teammates and she would only pass along information he would okay. At times, she felt like she was betraying her father and family, but in reality, she had found nothing he had not allowed her to pass on. Of course, she didn't really push. His teammates, who were unaware of their arrangement, seem far more protective of his secrets and Hoshiko, the kunoichi of his team, had just started to tolerate her.

"My father is pressuring me again."

"Okay," Ranmaru paused longer than usual, but this was something she'd grown accustomed to when dealing with him. "Have you told them about our spar?"

She flinched at that memory. Their one and only spar had been remarkably short; she still wasn't sure how she lost so badly. "No, but maybe we could try it again."

"No," Ranmaru said flatly, "Come on we're going to be late."

Well, that answer didn't leave any room for debate Hanabi thought as she sped up to follow him. Ranmaru's team and Konohamaru's attempted to get together at least every other week or so. This had been a tradition since they had graduated and she had been joining them for over a year now.

Today, the group was meeting at a teahouse that had seating outside. Everybody else was already there and Moegi stood to wave them over. She wore a Chunin vest, like several of the others, having only been recently promoted during the last round of exams in Amegakure.

She had participated in the exam with her team, but they had been eliminated in the second stage. Amegakure's second stage had been much like the Forest of Death, only it had been a giant hedge maze. The walls had easily been fifty feet high and constructed out of tightly woven living plants twice as thick as she was tall. To top it off, the thorny walls had also contained a mild hallucinogenic poison. The tight corridors opened up to large open spaces and there had even been short underground passages. All of that should have favored her Byakugan, but one of her teammates had allowed their scroll to be stolen and replaced with a fake. The three of them had been shocked when they had found that out.

"Hanabi, there's a free seat over here." Konohamaru called to her. He had been eliminated during a preliminary match when he had to fight a fellow Leaf ninja named Naruto.

She took the offered seat even though it placed her next to Hoshiko, who had also been eliminated in the preliminaries. Udon sat across from her and she smiled, "How's the wrist?"

Udon, who had been promoted but never wore the vest, sniffed, which was a habit of his she still had trouble ignoring. "All better," he flexed it to emphasize his point, "But I'm not helping Kado clean out one of his attics again."

"Hey, I fell through the ceiling too." The raven hair Chunin paused before adding with a grin, "I just had the good fortune of landing on top of you." That caused several to laugh around the table and she smiled politely, not sure what to do.

Hanabi was always unsure about how to act around Kado. Like her, he came from a prestigious clan and while he had the talent his family was known for, he had been promoted after all, he was still illegitimate. In the Hyuga hierarchy, they were the lowest. It was a necessity. A clan with Kekkei Genkai had to worry about it being stolen, and the fact that this had happened to the Uchiha would have been greatly amusing if there was more than two of them left.

Kado caught her staring at him and she broke her gaze immediately. Like his other two teammates, Ranmaru and Hoshiko, he had not been born in the village. His and Hoshiko's original hidden village had been destroyed during the samurai uprising, so no one questioned their loyalty to their adopted home. She didn't know Ranmaru's story, except for the fact that he had traveled with a missing-nin for some time.

There was another outbreak of laughter at the table and this time she wasn't sure why. Pushing her thoughts aside, she tried to join in the conversation. After all, this was what she wanted. She loved her family and hated the fact that she couldn't inform her father better, but at the same time, she had just wanted someone to talk to, someone to hang out with. She had that here, even if it wasn't as perfect as her sisters team had been.

* * *

Authors note : Hanabi is one of those characters that can easily capture the imagination. However, quite possibly the best story I've seen where she is used is Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years by Peace Writer v.2.5 check it out it's worth a read.


	4. So it Begins

It is rare that anything in our world is what it first appears to be.

From Konohagakure Academy handbook

* * *

Rain fell gently on the village of Konoha. It was not a hindrance to the numerous ninja that moved about, but the civilians found themselves scurrying for cover. In the Hokage Residence, Tsunade sat behind her desk which was surprisingly devoid of documents. With an Advisory Council she could finally trust, she no longer felt the need to approve every document that crossed her desk.

Homura and Koharu had retired. That was the official story. Unofficially, she had forced them out. When Danzo's coup d'état attempt had failed, she had seized on the opportunity and forced the two elders out. The evidence connecting the two of them to the attempt was circumstantial at best, but judging by the ease they had accepted retirement, their consciences were not clean.

She kept the two under periodic observation, but so far no one from the Foundation had attempted to contact them. In fact, Foundation didn't seem to be doing much of anything. With their leader dead, killed by the organization itself, they seem to have faded away. Personally, the elderly Sannin would not have believed he was dead if his body, and then several days later, his head had been found. Unfortunately, the head had been too decayed to relinquish any secrets. It would be nice if that organization had faded away, but it had never just been a cult of personality. At a fundamental level it was a difference in philosophy of how the village should be run.

Turning her attention away from her enemies in the shadow, she turned to the more public ones. The Land of Earth was increasing security along its border again. This was fairly common and the reasons for it were not exactly clear. Due to the terrain, there were not many ways to enter the country and the ones that were, were fortified.

Jiraiya had recently reported that the Akatsuki had moved a significant amount of Ryo into two banks in the country. Was it possible they were going after the two Jinchuriki? Then again, maybe they already had grabbed one of them and that was the reason for the latest security spike. If that was the reason, she might be able to make some overtures to the new Tsuchikage.

He was an unknown and that was not good. The man had emerged out of obscurity and had taken a title that was usually fought over by the various clans in the village. Of course, there was always the possibility he was a mere puppet and was being manipulated behind the scenes. That sort of politicking did pop up, especially at the Kage level and if that was the case, dealing with the new Tsuchikage was going to be annoying.

There was a knock at her office door and Shizune popped her head in. "Kakashi is back from his mission from Kiri. You said you wanted him to report to you immediately upon his arrival."

"Send him in." she had been waiting for his return. When Kakashi did walk in, she was surprised. His movements were stiff and lethargic. She gestured him over to a chair which he collapsed into. "Is age catching up with you?"

The gray-haired Jonin held out a scroll to her, his single eye visible, but barely open. "I had to use a technique that drained most of my chakra. That's why it took us three days to get from the port to here."

Glancing down at the scroll in her hands, she questioned, "From the Mizukage?"

He nodded, "She gave that," he gestured towards the scroll, "To me in person. Just before that she said her village would maintain its disinterest in the mainland."

That comment caught Tsunade's attention; the Mist village was notorious for their secrecy. Being invited into the village and meeting with their leader was, well, she didn't want to say unprecedented, but it was certainly something she had never heard of. "Were you able to look around?"

"Not much, but the room in the Mizukage's palace did have a view. With the exception of that building, missing parts of its roof there was only a little cosmetic damage and even that you had to look for."

She nodded. It was a small thing, but the Mizukage had to be delivering some sort of message with that action. "How free were you to move about?"

"We were free to move about on the floor our rooms were on and when we entered the village there was no extra guards around us."

The Hokage paused to consider that. They were clearly stating to them that their village had recovered from the attack they had suffered years ago. If they were going to get involved in continental affairs they would probably want to underplay their strength. Pushing those thoughts aside for a second she looked over to Kakashi and said, "All right, your written report can wait. Check into the hospital, it looks like you need a few days of bed rest." She raised her voice "Shizune, come here."

Her dark haired assistant popped her head into the room again "Yes Lady Tsunade?"

"See that Kakashi is given a hospital bed. He is suffering from chakra exhaustion."

Her assistant nodded wordlessly and helped Kakashi to stand. A moment later, she was again alone in her office. Glancing down at the scroll, she broke the seal with her thumbnail. It was rare that a hidden village would offer anything up freely, which meant this was either an opening bid of information or more likely a communication that they wanted to keep off the record.

The first word immediately drew her attention, Akatsuki. For the first time she learned about the roots of the organization or at least partially. It made for interesting reading. By the time she reached the end of the scroll she knew she would have to talk with Jiraiya.

* * *

Kisho, a ninja from Kusagakure, jumped from tree to tree in the early morning sun along the Grass and Rain border. At twenty-three-years-old, he had only been recently promoted to Chunin and he knew he had little hope of ever going beyond that rank. His skills were average and although he came from a family of ninja, he was not descended from a famous clan.

"Kisho, pay attention." Naomichi the team's leader snapped at him.

"Yes sir." he answered automatically.

Another one of his teammates came up next to him. "Hey, newbie, you're not exactly making a good impression."

"Sorry." he muttered. This was his first time working with this team and the first time on border patrol. After the first few days it was becoming hard for him to summon much enthusiasm for this mission.

Officially, they were searching for smugglers crossing the border. The trouble was the smugglers on their side of the border provided them with information on the Rain Country. So they were to be left alone. This wouldn't be too annoying, but in this area the small isolated villages on both sides of the border made their living through smuggling and often the two groups would intermingle. Twice now they had detained groups of smugglers only to release them later.

From the corner of his eye, Kisho thought he saw something and shifted his gaze towards it. Stopping on the next branch he turned his head to call his captain's attention to it and was just in time to see him engulfed in a massive explosion. Before the ringing in his ears could die down, he Shunshin away.

Behind him, a deluge of weapons fell where he had just been. One of his teammates who, was still stunned by the explosion, was cut to ribbons. Kisho and his one remaining teammate landed on the same tree branch, back to back scanning for the enemy. At this point he wasn't thinking, but his mind had kicked into survival mode and when his mind told him to jump away, he did so. That action saved his life even as a blade cut into his shoulder.

As he jumped down to the ground he spun around and for the first time saw his attacker. Without a question, they were dressed in the familiar garb of an Amegakure ninja. He held two short swords in his hands and one had his blood on it while the other was covered in that of his last teammate. Her body lay at their attacker's feet, lifeless.

By all rights, the time it took him to take all this in should have cost him his life, but the enemy didn't press the attack. With his team eliminated, the only thought that Kisho could muster was, this had to be reported. Shunshin away again and again he tried to put as much distance between himself and his attackers as he could.

He didn't look back, but if he had he would've seen the attacker quite calmly clean his blades on the corpse at his feet and then sheath them. The attacker joined his other three teammates calmly, with no interest in the fleeing ninja. When Kisho heard later that other teams on border patrol had been attacked, and like his team, there was only one survivor, he knew something was not right. However, it wouldn't be until much later that he put it all together.

* * *

Coming home was a strange thing for Sasuke. On a night, not unlike this one, he had come home along this very street and found his aunts and uncles slaughtered. There had been a time when simply being here had brought back that night in vivid detail. For years he had avoided this place. The painful memory of that night overwhelmed all other memories. At least, it used to.

Kado had been the catalyst behind that change. He had come into his life only a few years ago. Sasuke could still remember when he had been first told that there might be another Uchiha. Anger had been his predominant feeling, anger and disbelief. Even after finding out that he had been a deliberate attempt from another hidden village to hijack his family's Kekkei Genkai, it had done nothing to change his feelings towards the boy. It wasn't until Sasuke had to deliver the news to him that his former home had been destroyed that something had changed.

The younger boy had not taken it well and Sasuke would admit, he didn't handle it well either. After that, he had tried to get along with Kado. Naruto had helped in an odd way with his friendship with Konohamaru. He could certainly never copy Naruto, but it had been something.

The Uchiha heard the almost imperceptible creaking of wood as somebody shifted their weight on the roof behind him. His family's district was no stranger to intruders and without turning he allowed his hand to drift towards his sword hilt. The wood creaked again and this time he knew it was because the weight had suddenly left it.

Spinning, his Sharingan activated as he drew his sword. The attacker jumped off of a nearby roof and Sasuke could've gone under their guard. It would have been simple to bring his sword across their stomach and spill their guts, but he noticed familiar long blonde hair. Metal collided with metal as two swords met. Sidestepping his attacker, their momentum carried them past him and he sheathed his sword in one motion.

His attacker, Ino, spun to face him and only reluctantly copied his actions. She smiled, but the other Chunin glared at her. "I could've killed you," he said without bothering to deactivate his eyes.

"Come on Sasuke, you know there isn't that much of a difference between you and me when it comes to Kenjutsu."

The teen bit back his first comment. He didn't like arguing with Ino, particularly when he knew he wouldn't win. "Just promise me you won't do it again," he said closing his eyes.

For a moment she was silent, but eventually said, "Alright I won't. I thought you might get a kick out of it. I've been waiting here for hours since I heard you got back you know? What took you so long anyway?"

When the raven haired teen opened his eyes, they were back to normal again. "My two teammates insisted we should have dinner together. By the way, they are apparently together now."

Ino's eyes lit up, "Really, that's good. I've been worried that Sakura still had her eyes on you."

He didn't really like her possessive tone or even the fact that she had even mentioned they were in a relationship. So he changed the subject, "How is you're training with your family Jutsu coming?"

She turned away from him and they both started walking towards his home. "I'm trying to learn from scrolls, it's not easy."

He nodded silently. Her father had died on a mission during the samurai uprising. While she certainly had some sympathy from him for that, it had changed her. She started taking her training more seriously, and although it had stunted her growth with her family's secret techniques, it had allowed her to experiment with Kenjutsu, which had ended up bringing them together.

They reached his front door, and with Ino there with him, Sasuke didn't think about the family crest that was painted on the wall that had a crack in it. That was the work of Itachi. That crack and the room his parents were killed in were the only parts of the compound that vividly brought back that night nowadays. He avoided the room as much as he could, but the crack was something he saw almost every day, and for a second, he remembered that his brother still had not paid the price for what he had done.

"It seems," she smiled coyly " That I walked you to your door."

For a second, he didn't know what she was driving at, but then he smiled because he didn't know what to do. "It's been a year hasn't it."

"I guess so. We never officially started dating you know."

"How about in three days we call it our anniversary. That is if you don't have a mission."

Ino smiled and leaned in towards him, "I'm good with that."

He was about to lean towards her when he saw movement and looked up just in time to see a bird fly overhead. "Messenger Hawk?" he questioned looking up.

"Has to be," Ino said, "Birds normally don't fly at this time of day." For a second she joined him in looking up, but then quickly pulled him down into a kiss.

What neither of them knew was that another bird was just then entering the village at that moment. They both carried a message about the same incident, but with very different reasons behind it. In three days, not only would Sasuke and Ino be very busy, but the entire martial force of Konoha.

* * *

Authors note: Okay that was a short chapter, but it's not going to happen again.


	5. The Chase Begins

A plan that does not make allowances for random interventions shall not succeed.

-Anonymous

* * *

"Does anyone care to tell me why two of our allies are about to go to war with each other?" Tsunade demanded as she stormed into the conference room.

Shikaku, who had taken Homura's place on the Konoha Council glanced up from the report in front of him, "That depends on who you want to believe. According to Grass, Rain crossed the border and attacked several of their units on routine border patrol. Rain doesn't dispute the fact that they attacked those units, but they say that Grass crossed their border."

"Is anyone offering any proof?" Kameko, an elderly woman who had replaced Koharu said as she thumbed through the same report.

"Of course not, it's strictly he said, she said," Shikaku replied.

The Hokage rested her hands on the table and leaned forward, "Besides the initial attacks, have there been any others?"

"No, but we just received these messages less than an hour ago. For all we know they could be in all out war by now."

Tsunade spun around at the new voice. It wasn't that it was unfamiliar, but she didn't know that Jiraiya was even back in the village. "Jiraiya, do you have any information on this?"

Her only remaining teammate pealed himself off of the wall where he had been lingering and headed towards the map of the continent laid out on the table. "There's been a rumor that Amegakure has been experiencing a civil war, which is why it closed its borders. Given how unlikely that Grass would have four squads accidentally cross the border; we should presume this was done deliberately."

"That's reasonable, but which side did the set up?" Tsunade asked looking down at the map herself.

"Historically, those two villages are enemies. Grass could've sent those units across the border as an excuse to start a war or Rain could've crossed the border and attacked those units to do the same thing." Kameko said from where she was seated.

"Or," Shikaku added, "Rain could've manufactured this incident to give the perception of strength in an attempt to counter those rumors."

"Which would mean they'll be receptive to an offer of a mediator." Tsunade muttered under her breath. "All right, Shikaku send a message to both of the belligerence offering our services as an intermediary. Kameko, compose messages to our other allies and reassure them that were on top of this. I want to see the messages before they're sent."

They both nodded and Kameko asked, "Do we have any personnel in the region?"

"Yeah," Shikaku replied. "There is a Chunin from the medical corps who is supposed to be gathering plants in the north of Grass and a Hyuga is inspecting some dams, one of which is near the border. It seems he took his Genin team with him."

"Neji Hyuga." the Hokage supplied. He was one of the newer Jonin and the youngest ever to take on a team. She had faith that he could keep his team safe even if hostilities broke out.

"There's probably a few others traveling through Grass, but unless we take a side in any conflict, their Hitai-ate should provide them with protection."

Jiraiya snorted at that and she found herself agreeing with her old teammate. Kameko had spent the last decade behind a desk, analyzing intelligence reports and while she was quite good at understanding the minutiae, her practical skills were lacking.

"Perhaps you should move some ANBU squads towards the border for intelligence gathering purposes. They could also be used as a peacekeeping force, if that's what the two villages decide is needed," Shikaku suggested.

She nodded, "Dispatch five units, but make sure they stay on our side of the border." Turning towards the oldest man in the room, she nodded towards the door, "Five minutes."

The two Sannin stepped into the hallway and Jiraiya spoke up even before the door was closed. "I'm guessing you're not going to let me take Naruto to Myobokuzan until this crisis is over."

Tsunade winced at her fellow Sannin's tone. "I'm afraid not, but as soon as this situation is result you can take him on another training trip."

"Tsunade, there's always going to be another crisis over the horizon, but what hasn't changed is that the Akatsuki is going to come after him. He has to be ready and Myobokuzan is the best place for that."

Seizing on the reference she said, "Speaking of the Akatsuki, do you have anything new on them?"

Jiraiya shook his head as he leaned against the wall. "They're spreading their Ryo around which would indicate they're preparing for something, which is another reason why Naruto should head to Myobokuzan."

She ignored the rebuke, "Naruto and his team just came back from helping the Mist village with some internal problems they were having. The Mizukage gave Kakashi a scroll before they left. The scroll apparently detailed the beginning of the Akatsuki. It claims that the first Mizukage who founded the Mist village also began the Akatsuki."

Jiraiya's eyebrows rose at that and she took a little pleasure in that. "The first Mizukage apparently just left one day after serving in that position for about twenty years. Nobody heard anything from him until the third Mizukage took power. As you know, he was a Jinchuriki and apparently was being controlled by the first Mizukage. It's not widely known, but apparently the Third fought against his control for years until he was finally able to temporarily break free and free the three tales that was sealed within him to end it."She paused for a second and added, "The really interesting thing is that the Second Mizukage served for almost forty years in his position?"

The man who knew more about the Akatsuki then probably some of its members was surprised at the news. "That would make him close to being over a hundred years old, if he is still around." A thoughtful look crossed over his face before he asked, "Let me see that scroll. It might provide me with a lead."

* * *

"Ouch," a girl's voice yelped more out of surprise then pain. "Sensei, Jiro just hit me." Akako complained.

"I didn't hit you. I flicked a mosquito off of you." Jiro replied in his defense.

There was a moment of silence and then a loud thump as a fist hit against flesh followed by an, "Ouch."

"There was a mosquito on you." Akako sneered.

Neji Hyuga closed his eyes as he listened to two of his Genin argue and tried to take solace in the fact that it wasn't the three of them this time. "Quiet, remember you are representatives of Konoha."

His team was silent for a second and then Yuudai spoke up, "But sensei, there is no one around to see us."

The Jonin closed his eyes again and counted backwards from ten which was something he had never done until he had taken on this team. "Your behavior so far on this mission has not reflected the best on the village. You must remember that as long as you wear those Hitai-ate, you represent your home." Neji didn't turn around, but for a change the trio was silent.

His team was not ordinarily this bad, but an unexpected rainstorm had kept them in a cave for the better part of yesterday and he had to push them hard to reach the village in time. On day nine of their mission, he still was uncertain if he could classify it as a success or not. He had inspected the first dam on the fourth day with no trouble except for the fact that Yuudai had fallen asleep during the report to the village's leader.

Besides that one embarrassing moment, they had been doing well. They had stopped for two days so that his students could practice the tree walking exercise, and the three were quite adept at it now, which had come as a nice surprise. If this trip had taught him one thing, it was that when they had a clear goal, his team could become very motivated. However, when they didn't have such a goal they tended to fall apart, like now.

He wondered if part of the problem was the fact that they had been friends before becoming a team. Jiro, the shorter of the two boys on his team, and Akako, the single girl, were neighbors and had literally grown up together. At times they brought out the best in each other, but at other times they brought out the worst. Jiro in particular seemed to be stuck at the point where little boys teased the girl they liked. Yuudai was a bit quieter than the other two, but that didn't mean he didn't cause trouble like the others.

The tree shaded path they had been walking on suddenly opened up and they found themselves on the shore of a reservoir. It wasn't a particularly large one as it was only caused by the damning of a small river, but the farmers around here relied on it for irrigation. Absentmindedly, he noticed something he thought he should point out to his team.

"It's rare that one can see three countries from one spot," Neji announced to his team. "Those tall trees in the distance are the beginning of Rain country. Over there," he gestured into the distance were several mountains stood towering over the landscape, "Is the border of The Earth country and of course we stand in Grass country now." There was a moment of silence behind him and he really wasn't sure what he had been expecting but that had not been it.

"How can you tell?" Yuudai asked, breaking the silence.

He exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding, "The land of Earth is surrounded by mountains," Neji answered. "In fact, not only are they the largest peaks on the continent in that mountain chain, but those are the only major mountains on the continent." From the corner of his eye he saw a rock fall and splash into the nearby reservoir.

"Wow, that fish had to be huge!" Jiro exclaimed.

"Yeah," Yuudai added. "Hey sensei, you think we could get some fishing in?"

The Jonin smiled as finally something went his way. "That was not a fish. It was a rock. In some of those mountain passes the winds are so strong that it actually picks up and throws rocks. Some smaller ones can even land miles away like that one just did. It's called Gan'u."

"The mountains," he continued while he still had their attention, "function as a natural defense barrier and the main reason why the land has never been invaded. There are only a few passes that can be traversed by wagon and only a few more for people. However, it works both ways. If these passes are blocked by an enemy then they're trapped behind the mountains," Neji finished.

"Have you ever been there sensei?" Yuudai asked.

"No. They're not as strict as the Rain country is with their border, but because they can control access so easily, they are." The Jonin wondered if any of his Genin picked up on his subtle warning about power.

His lecture done, his students started talking among each other until he gestured for them to stop. "This is close enough." Activating his Byakugan, he concentrated on the small dam. It was about twenty feet high and about the same wide.

Akako moved to stand beside him. She was silent for a second before asking, "What do things look like when you do that?"

"Activate my Byakugan?" Neji questioned. She nodded and he thought for a second. "I mostly see chakra pathways which look exactly like the way you saw them in Academy diagrams, but it also glows white. Everything else is sort of in shades of gray. For example, I can see your ponytail, but only the outline."

Gesturing towards the dam he added, "When it comes to objects it is a little more difficult, but with concentration I can see inside." Pausing, he added, "This dam seems to be in much better shape than the last." He deactivated his Byakugan and shifted his gaze over to the water. Perhaps he was being optimistic, but they had picked up the tree walking exercise pretty fast. Without saying a word he took several steps onto the reservoir and explained the next stage in their training.

* * *

"Alright, everything seems to be in order." the samurai handed back the papers and waved for the gate to be open.

"Thank you. You know we've got some-"

"Move along." the guard said cutting him off and waving him forward.

Musashi smiled as he pulled his cart forward, pleased to know that his acting skills had not waned from lack of use. Most members of the Iwagakure Clan Council would think it beneath their dignity to go on an actual mission for the village. He did not share this opinion and it was not simply because he was the second youngest member of the Council. The reason was far simpler; he was not a native son of Iwagakure. Although, he had abandoned or been abandoned by Kirigakure, he still kept their work ethic.

Besides, he preferred to have at least one of his children safe inside of Iwa. His eldest son was currently occupying his seat in the Clan Council and his youngest son was already within the Rain country waiting for the general attack to begin. His youngest child and only daughter had been assigned the mission of disrupting communication between Sand and Leaf. Of course, his mission was arguably the most dangerous. He was to lead a team whose mission was to capture the Giriai Bridge.

The meaning behind the name made him smile as he looked around the fortification they were passing through. The name meant friendship, but it was built over a reservoir that was meant to be a barrier to any invasion from Iwa. The bridge was technically several miles within the Grass Country, which had prevented the Earth Country from waging a protest against its construction.

The Giriai Bridge wasn't particularly long, but it was the only passage over the reservoir. Water itself was not much of a barrier to a ninja, but when they were used as an actual invading force they had to worry about supply lines, and of course, evacuating their wounded. The samurai uprising had functioned to remind everyone of the difficulties and importance of supplying a force in the field.

Rock's true objective may be the Leaf village, but for the sake of shorter supply lines this bridge would have to be seized. The only problem was that it had to be done secretly, which was why he and his fifteen man unit were disguised as wandering traders. Now that he was within the fortified bridge, though, he was tempted to launch the attack now, but if it wasn't done with absolute secrecy, their entire plan could be ruined. So he just used his kekkei genkai to look around to count the guards and was thankful for the sunglasses that hid his red eyes.

It took about five minutes for the entire convoy to get across the bridge and then they were into the town. Once the door behind them closed, the man next to him, who was his second in command, said, "I counted ten guards, you?"

"Twelve, there were two hidden. One was near the top of the East gate and the other at the top of the West. They're using Genjutsu to conceal themselves which means they're ninja and not samurai. I'd be willing to bet there are archers too."

"Great," the man muttered. "Did you see the flare system?"

"Yeah," Musashi muttered. If a fortified position had a flare system, that meant they were trying to contact someone. Which was basically the worst-case scenario for them, but they had come prepared for it. "We'll use plan B. I'll take three men and seize the bridge. You take the rest and lock down the town."

They continued through the town with nothing more than a casual stare at them from the townspeople. They would find a place to set up shop and actually try to sell some of their merchandise to maintain their cover. It was a sad commentary on the state of the village when many of their ninja had to take secondary jobs just to make ends meet. The plus side of this, though, was it was easy for them to pass as traveling merchants.

"Look to your right." his companion said quietly.

Musashi glanced in his direction from the corner of his eye and cursed mentally. Three young ninja sat on a park bench watching them go by. "I'm guessing they're Genin." he muttered.

"And I'd be willing to bet there's a Jonin around here somewhere." his second in command added.

"Yeah," he muttered under his breath. For Leaf ninjas in the village, it had to be a coincidence, but a very inconvenient one. Musashi knew he had to be one of those who attack the bridge and they still had to lock down the town because that flare system was meant to warn someone. Now they have Leaf ninjas in the village. "Alright, we're still attacking at night, but here's the change in the plan."

* * *

Neji was not aware of what first woke him. He had given into his teams pleading and rented one room at the inn. This trip was supposed to be a survival exercise, but as his team had pointed out they no longer had any dry clothes.

Quietly activating his Byakugan, he took in his surroundings. It was slightly disorienting at first because he was not used to using his Kekkei Genkai in a horizontal position, but what he saw caught him off guard. Their room was on the second floor, overlooking a small garden. Directly opposite of their room stood a man perched on the wall that enclosed the garden and building. If that wasn't bad enough, there were two individuals creeping up on either side of the hallway.

The Jonin may not have known what was going on, but he knew they were about to be attacked. Fortunately, his team was sleeping in the same room as he was. Rolling out of his futon, he nudged the nearest one of them awake and said, "We're about to be attacked, wake the others."

"What?" Yuudai asked in a half-asleep tone.

"This is not a drill, go." Neji put force behind his words in a tone that was wholly uncharacteristic and seemed to get his point across as he heard the boy scramble to wake the person next to him. Without turning on a light he analyzed the room from memory. The walls attached to the hallways were not thick, but they couldn't be easily broken through. The door slid to the side and was locked with a simple piece of wood which meant they would have to destroy the door to get into the room.

Using his Byakugan to monitor the two intruder's approach, he removed the wooden block that locked the door and waited. He could hear his team fumble around in the dark collecting their gear and then the two men were at the door. He waited holding his breath until one of them started to reach forward with an exploding note in his hand.

At the last second, Neji flung open the door and delivered a Juken blow to the man's chest. Before that enemy fell back against the wall, he spun, hitting the other man in the side with another Juken, sending him sprawling. With both incapacitated, he knelt and started to search the one man for his equipment. There was a kunai pouch at his side and an exploding note in his hand. That was all he could find as the light in the room turned on as Akako appeared in the doorway.

"Sensei, are you all right?"

The Hyuga's Byakugan was still activated and that was why he saw the third man prepared to jump. Without a word, he pushed her to the side and darted towards the far wall. Fortunately, this one was made out of Shoji screens and he smashed through it with ease, coming to a stop on the porch. Three kunais were thrown at him and he slipped into a Heavenly Spin, deflecting each one of them up into the air. One apparently had an exploding note attached and exploded overhead. Before the sound had died down, Neji jumped to intercept the man and after a brief skirmish he joined his two comrades.

"Come on, we have to leave this town." He shouted up to the balcony where his team had gathered.

"What's going on?" Jiro shouted down at him sounding scared.

Before the Jonin could open his mouth to reply, a flare shot up from the direction of the bridge before exploding in a bright white light. "The towns under attack!" he replied. His team hesitated and he added, "It is not safe here, we have to get moving."

That snapped them out of their daze and they jumped down one by one. Neji used that time to concentrate on the wider view that the Byakugan could provide him. He had developed one of the largest fields of view in the Hyuga family history. However, this was the worst terrain for using his Kekkei Genkai.

There was easily over a hundred people in town and each one of them was moving now. He couldn't tell if there were more attackers out there, or where they might be, as civilians started to come out into the streets dazed and confused. In his mind's eye, he pulled up a map of the village and the surrounding territory. To the west was the reservoir and the north and east were open grass fields which only left the south as an escape route with any cover. Even if he didn't know who the attackers were, he had to move his team out of this situation now.

"Follow me and don't ask any questions." He ordered them and for once, they listened. Not being able to distinguish civilians from foe, he tried to lead them down abandoned streets and alleys, but that became increasingly difficult. Neji's Hitai-ate had been left at the Inn, but judging by the reactions they received by the handfuls of civilians they passed, his students had grabbed theirs.

Several of the civilians they passed turned and fled back into their homes and he couldn't really blame them for that. With explosions and flares going off and then seeing ninjas run through your streets was disconcerting at the least. As more and more civilians came out to see what was going on, he was finally able to see some ninjas. A few individuals jumped to the rooftops and he did his best to avoid them, but they had soon picked up a tail. There were two shadows following them, hopping from rooftop to rooftop, but he couldn't see how they could see them. When his team left the village and entered the woods, the two tails seemed to fall back, which only made Neji even more nervous. He decided that they would continue into Rain Country in hopes the enemy would not follow them into another country.

* * *

Authors note: I apologize for the delay in releasing this chapter.


	6. War

History is frequently made up of small insignificant events that don't necessarily appear to have an effect on the overall situation at the time, but in hindsight though small events can be what means success or failure.

Excerpt from Konohagakure a History Volume I

* * *

"Musashi, they escaped into the woods."

Musashi didn't bother looking up from the ninja he was healing as he responded, "Report." The casualness that Iwa allowed when reporting to a superior in the field was something that he could never get used to.

The man straightened at the gentle rebuke. "The town has been successfully locked down and we neutralized one Kusa ninja trying to escape. However, the four ninjas from Konoha did escaped. Kurobachi was however able to conceal one of his bees on them before they left the village."

The older ninja nodded. The single Kusa ninja job had probably been to alert his village if the bridge was taken, but they hadn't anticipated that the village and bridge would be taken simultaneously. If the terrain had been different they may have stationed him outside of the village and that might have caused some problems. Not that the escape of the Konoha ninjas could simply be overlooked either. "Tell Kurobachi to take one of the Medical-nin and Zinan to track down the ninja."

The man nodded and disappeared into a puff of smoke to deliver his orders. Musashi paused for a second in his work, wondering if he should send more after them, but he needed to keep the town lockdown until he was relieved and that was at least two hours away. Besides, Zinan was a Jonin and a member of the Ishi clan. Members from that clan were notoriously fast, but they also had an interesting Kekkei Genkai, they could turn any part of their body to stone. Those three should be able to handle one Jonin and three Genin without much trouble. Now he just had to make sure no one else escaped from the village.

* * *

Neji did one last scan with his Byakugan before deactivating it. Several miles into the Rain country he had allowed his team to stop and rest. He would've preferred to go on without a break, but his team was in no shape for that. Akako was bent over, her hands on her knees and hair disheveled. As he watched in the dim light provided by the moon she pushed her loose hair back, attempting to tie it into her ordinarily tight braid. Jiro was leaning against one of the large trees gulping water from his thermos. Yuudai was the only one who wasn't looking winded although; his shallow rapid breaths betrayed him.

"Sensei," Jiro began in his still to break voice, "what happened? Did bandits attack the village?"

The Hyuga thought for a second. It was unlikely that bandits or rogue ninja would've attacked the village and specifically targeted them. If they knew they were there, why not simply wait till he moved on? Even if a group of rogue ninja had been that impatient what advantage did they gain by attacking the fortified bridge? He was sure that the flare he saw was from the bridge, so that meant they had to be regular ninja from a hidden village. The two most likely candidates were Rock and Rain, but telling his team that would most likely panic them, especially since they were currently in the Rain country.

He mentally shook his head as he reminded himself that they were ninja and should be able to handle it. "If I had to guess someone just went to war with Grass and we were caught in the middle."

"But who would want to do that?" Yuudai asked between breaths.

"If I had to guess I would say Rain. There is a lot of bad blood between the Rain and Grass country. However," Neji paused trying to read his students reactions, "It could've also been Rock. I'm not sure." To his student's credit, they hid their nervousness well.

Akako was the first to speak her voice trying not to tremble. "What are we going to do?"

The Jonin nodded, appreciating their reaction. Certainly in the past Genin younger than them had gone to war, but they had the luxury of being forewarned. This situation was more like the Chunin exam several years ago, but worse. The terrain was foreign to them and they were outnumbered. Of course he reminded himself that he had been recovering during the invasion, so he couldn't really compare the two situations. "We'll travel east from here and parallel the border for several miles. We will swing back into the Grass country ahead of any hostile force."

"Why don't we just stay in the woods?" Jiro said his eyes widening.

"Because," Neji broke off his sentence as he saw something. Activating his Byakugan again, he confirmed what he thought he saw. Jiro's weapon pouch had a bee on it. Ordinarily, it wouldn't be a big deal, but bees did not fly at night which meant, so that was why they let them leave the village. They were tracking them. "Jiro, don't move."

The Genin stiffened as he squeaked out, "What? What is it sensei?"

The Hyuga approached carefully, not wanting to scare the bee into the pouch. When he was close enough and was sure he wouldn't hurt his student he expelled a very small amount of chakra through his fingers which killed the bee instantly. Then he calmly addressed his student, "You had an insect on you."

"Sensei," Jiro whined, "don't scare me like that. I thought I stepped on a booby trap or something."

Standing he ignored his student and was about to order them to move out, when one and then three people came into his enhanced field of view. "Run."

"What?" Jiro said, taking a breath from his complaining.

Neji's mind made a quick calculation. Although, he was fairly confident that there was no more tracking insects on himself or his students, he wasn't about to bet their lives on it. "Head south further into the Rain country."

"But-"

"Do it," Neji snapped. For a second his team froze before they started running like cockroaches with the kitchen light turned on. He watched them for a second before heading to intercept their pursuers.

The three pursuers were advancing in a loose triangle formation. It was large enough that a single explosion couldn't get them all which meant they were wary of an ambush. They were also traveling through the lowest level of the branches which placed them about twenty feet into the air. There was no way to determine their strength and if all three were Jonin, then he was in trouble. Knowing that, he made a decision. The one on point was the tracker and if nothing else he had to take him out. If the other two managed to take him out at least than his students would have a chance.

His fighting style didn't usually involve weapons, but he always had a few on him just in case. Grabbing his one and only flash bomb he picked the best ambush spot and waited. Even though he was alone he still had two advantages. The first was surprise. They may be wary of an ambush, but he controlled the timing of that ambush. The second and possibly the more important was his Byakugan. It was really the perfect tool for setting up an ambush; it allowed him to remain completely concealed while monitoring his enemy's approach perfectly.

With his back against a tree, he waited calming himself by concentrating on his breathing. He kept his Byakugan activated and watched as his team slipped out of sight as the enemies closed in. Then it was time. The man on point jumped off of a branch and would have landed next to him if Neji had not stepped out from behind the trunk of the tree. He stood exactly where the man was going to land and delivered a blow right to his chest stopping his heart instantly.

His feet had been firmly planted when he delivered the blow, but as the lifeless body collided with him he fell backwards with it. Unnoticed the flash bomb flew out of his hand into the air before detonating in a blindingly white light. To Neji, with his Kekkei Genkai activated, the scene looked very different and he was not left stunned like the other two.

Using his chakra to grip the branch Neji flipped forward aiming for the larger and closer of the two men. His intention was to strike this opponent in the chest while they were still stunned, but a second before impact his targets chakra system seemed to disappear as he hit something hard. Before he could react the man grabbed his arm and threw him. The Jonin slammed against a nearby tree before falling to the ground.

Neji rolled away upon landing and that small action saved his life. His opponent almost seemed to teleport from one spot to another, slamming his hand into the ground where he had been a second ago. The Hyuga rolled to his feet and for a moment the two engaged in vicious hand-to-hand combat. Then when he blocked one of the man's blows his arm flared with pain and he withdrew.

For a moment he thought his arm might be broken, but he could still flex his fingers. It had felt like he had been hit with a rock and remembering how the chakra pathways seem to disappear in front of them before he made a connection. The Hyuga had records on other clans and he suddenly remembered reading about a clan from Iwa. They had the ability to turn just about any part of their body to stone including their chest. They were considered to be a major threat to the Hyuga in particular because gentle fist didn't work against stone. However, there was one flaw in their ability.

The man came at him again and this time Neji retreated trying to position his opponent and learning his fighting style. Now that he didn't try to block any of the man's blows, but instead tried to dodge them he noticed a change in his pattern. The only time he turned either of his hands to stone was when confident he could deliver a blow. So far he had managed to prevent that from happening again, but in that, he saw an opening.

He allowed himself to be backed up against a tree. Then he allowed himself to be kicked in the side which hurt, but he had been prepared for it which allowed him to dodge the punch directed at his chest. The wood behind him splintered as the man's fist went into the tree. Neji popped up behind him and was about to deliver a blow to his head which was supposed to be the one part that couldn't be turned to stone.

Before he could deliver the fatal blow a kunai caused him to jump back. Up until now the other ninja had been hanging back, but have come to the rescue of his teammate. Neji retreated to a nearby tree branch and eyed the two. In his mind he tried to play out scenarios, but he simply couldn't see how he could win against both of them at the moment.

He reconsidered the situation and decided to withdraw. They had lost their tracker and at night it would be virtually impossible for them to pick up his trail. Without saying a word he turned and disappeared into the night. With his Byakugan he was able to monitor the two ninjas he left behind. They did not come after him and just before they were about to slip from his view they seem to turn and head back to the village they had just recently attacked.

If they had attempted to follow him he might've been able to ambush them again, but apparently they decided he wasn't worth it. Of course that meant they'd probably be back and with reinforcements.

* * *

Kankuro watched as his brother, the Kazekage took a seat at the head of the table to begin the late-night meeting. Although each of the five great villages was led by a kage, the extent of each Kage's power was varied from village to village. In Sunagakure, the Advisory Council has more power than usual, at least in times of peace. For his brother it was a good thing that both Baki and he served on the Council. If nothing else, it gave him the largest voting bloc if not enough for a majority.

"Have we heard from Konoha?" Gaara asked in his low, almost menacing voice.

"I'm afraid not," Kankuro answered. They had received the initial messages from Grass and Rain along with a single short message from the Leaf Village, but since then silence. They had sent two messages with their fastest birds, but they had not even received an acknowledgement.

"This is why we shouldn't allow them to take the lead on this," Yura announced.

Yura was the member of the Council that always played the devil's advocate. At times that had paid off, but Kankuro simply did not trust the man. He belonged to an older generation that if they were allowed to, would happily build a wall around the entire Wind Country and forget about the rest of the world.

"Joseki, what does our intelligence division report?" Baki questioned as if Yura had said nothing.

Joseki, one of the older individual in the room, leaned forward in his chair and it was easy for Kankuro to mistake the groan from the man's chair, as one from the man himself. "Well, as always we don't have much intelligence on Rain, but Grass has made no preparations for war prior to the incident." He paused for a second before adding, "There is one additional thing and by itself is meaningless, but in light of recent events."

"Do we have copies of that report?" Kankuro said cutting the man off and quietly patting himself on the back. A few years ago he would've just told the man to spit out what he was trying to say, but he was learning patience. And to think he used to think that little kids were annoying, some of these old people were infinitely worse.

"It's regarding the Red Bean Country. Our patrols have noticed fewer Rock ninja in the area and there's also been a significant increase in the amount of mission requests we receive from that country," Joseki answered.

The Red Bean Country was directly north of them and had been the center of the samurai uprising several years ago. For years it had functioned as a buffer between Sand and Rock, but since the uprising and the resulting downfall of the daimyo and his family it had become a sensitive area. Both of their villages patrolled within its borders and any missions that arose in the country were pretty much evenly divided between the two villages.

"How much of a rise?" Kankuro prompted.

"We currently have five missions in country, mostly C- ranked," another member of the Council replied.

Ordinarily that wouldn't be considered high Kankuro knew, but even with the ruling family gone there was still an anti-ninja feeling within the country. He had been there after they had put down the uprising and it was strange. "That's substantial," he commented.

"Yes it is," Gaara said. "It's circumstantial, but Rock may be planning something. If no one objects, I believe we should send a message to the Leaf Village, but this time we will send a team led by a Jonin. It's possible that our messenger hawks are being intercepted."

There was a moment of silence as that action even struck Kankuro as drastic, but as he opened his mouth there was a muffled sound of an explosion. For a moment nobody moved. Gaara was the first to recover standing as the door to the room opened and a guard stumbled inside.

"The eastern gate just exploded. It's gone," the man said stunned.

There was a heartbeat where nothing happened and then several questions were shouted at the man all at once.

"Who's attacking?"

"How did an enemy get so close?"

"Who was in charge of security?"

"Quiet!" Baki commanded raising his voice above the others.

"I shall investigate," Gaara announced moving towards the door.

"Gaara wait," Kankuro blurted out forgetting who he was addressing and even more importantly where.

"No, don't stop him. It is the Kazekage's job to protect the village."

The rebuke had come from Yura of all people and Kankuro dropped his hand that he had unconsciously raised to stop his younger brother. Instead he simply caught his brother's eye and the redhead nodded understanding the unspoken message. Then he was gone, passing between the doors.

"What are we just going to stand here and let him do all the work?" Baki demanded. "Kankuro take control of the rapid response team. Yura see to it that the other gates are fully manned. This may just be a diversion and as for," his former sensei broke off and he turned to see what was the matter.

Yura stood over Joseki who was slumped in his chair, a kunai buried into his back. Before the puppet user fully understood what had just happened, the man was moving. Weapons flew and he dodged the kunai thrown at him only to have Yura appear next to him. Kankuro like all puppet user's preferred long-range combat, but he had not allowed his hand-to-hand combat skills to completely atrophy.

Grabbing the one hand with a kunai, he was struck in the head with the other hand before the puppet user was able to restrain it. For a second they struggled like that in an awkward dance and then Yura lashed out with a kick that hit his knee, bending it at the wrong angle. Kankuro went down. For a second he thought he was about to die, but at that moment it seemed everyone else in the room remembered that they too were ninjas.

Someone threw several shurikens at the counselor turned assassin which he blocked with ease. Kankuro, his leg broken, decided he wasn't out of the fight yet and attached a string of chakra to the man's leg. When he attempted to jump away, the assassins had the unexpected weight of the puppet user attached to him. It caused him to stumble and Baki Blade of Wind finished him off.

Outside Gaara was proving himself worthy of being the Kazekage in an aerial battle that by its very nature captivated both civilian and ninja alike. It was a duel until Baki arrived and ordered their Ballista aimed upwards, but the only effect this had was to drive the two combatants up even higher. The duel went on and it became impossible to see anything more than the largest attacks from either one of them.

The battle seemed to be going in the Kazekage favor especially after he blocked the intruder's largest attack yet and doubtlessly saving a portion of the village at the same time. It came as a complete surprise when Gaara, there Kazekage suddenly fell only to be caught by the large white bird. The bird with the attacker and its captive flew off into the distance.

Sunagakure was left in disarray. There Kazekage had been abducted and the Advisory Council was down by three members. It took nearly five hours for them to dispatch an elite ANBU team to attempt to track down the intruder. Six hours after that they started to receive reports from their borders. Iwa had attacked several of their outposts and although they had been repeled at every point, it eliminated any further attempts to rescue the Kazekage.

It was a full twelve hours before they dispatched a small two-man team as messengers to Konoha. Both Temari and Matsuri secretly hoped that they could muster up some support from the Leaf Village to help rescue Gaara.

* * *

In the early morning hours on an unusually warm day approximately one hundred Rain ninjas poured over the most northern part of the Rain Fire border. They penetrated several miles into the country until they reached the Warui River which was a notoriously none navigable stretch of water. From there they proceeded north seizing and destroying several bridges, but leaving the villages alone. The ANBU that had been sent to the border by Tsunade were engaged, but most realizing they were outnumbered quickly withdrew. It was a strange and confusing start for the Fourth Great War.


	7. Chapter 7

Caution and speed, the one cancels out the other. If one is overcautious opportunities are missed. If one is too hasty then one can easily fall into a trap. It is the burden of a leader to balance these two opposing forces.

-The Burden of Command

* * *

The early morning sun shown upon Musashi as he watched the last of the reinforcements file across the bridge he had captured. So far the operation seemed to be going off without a hitch and that was starting to worry him. He didn't believe that there was a balance to the world where good and bad were given out in equal measure. Certainly the life of a ninja had more sorrow than joy, but if an operation was going too well it generally meant there was a trap somewhere about to be sprung.

The reinforcements had brought news though. The Kazekage had been successfully abducted and they had passed the point of no return. He knew that meant several weak attacks had been launched against The Land of Wind. They weren't really supposed to succeed, but were meant to throw the Sand village into further confusion. Their main target for now was the Leaf village and that was where he would be heading soon enough.

He suddenly sensed that he was not alone and he turned his head slightly and said, "Zinan."

The large man spoke, his voice tired, "They got away."

Finally a bit of bad luck he thought wryly. "What happened?"

The man shifted his weight nervously. "We were ambushed. Kurobachi was killed almost instantly. I and the medic engaged, but it was to a standstill. The man withdrew and we could not pursue."

"You have no tracking skills?" He demanded allowing his irritation to show through.

Zinan stiffened at that slight and said, "He was a Hyuga. In such thick woods he has an advantage. If we had pursued, we would have been ambushed again."

Musashi grunted in acknowledgement, simultaneously seeing his point and at the same time disapproving of his decision. He thought for a minute, trying to decide what to do. The Jonin and his students were heading into the Rain country which was hostile terrain, but it was also where Rock was amassing its force. If they saw that and were somehow able to report that information to their home, then the entire operation could be blown.

Standing, he turned to face the man and said, "Rest up. In two hours you and I will head back into Rain to track them down." To his surprise, he wasn't too annoyed by the news. He had orders to go into Rain anyway. He had not battled a Hyuga in years he thought to himself, and besides, his Kekkei Genkai was almost designed to defeat theirs. This could be most interesting.

* * *

"I can't win can I?"

"Yes, but at least you know you're losing."

Naruto frowned and crossed his arms staring down at the board in front of him before moving a piece. Maybe asking Shikamaru to teach him to play Shogi was not that good of an idea after all.

His friend glanced up at him before smiling and moving a piece of his own, "You can't win, but you'll play on till the end?"

"I never give up," the blonde said with a grin.

They both took another turn before Shikamaru broke the silence. "Naruto, when you know you're going to fight a highly skilled opponent, how do you go about it?"

"Well," the Chunin leaned back in his chair, assuming an exaggerated thinking pose, "I would probably send in my shadow clones first and see if I could spot a weakness or at least learn their limits."

"And when you're Hokage, will you send ninjas out on missions like that?"

"No. That's different," Naruto responded swiftly.

Shikamaru smiled softly, "Naruto, think about the name of this game. Shogi, General's board game," he raised an eyebrow. "If you want to win, you have to think of these pieces as your soldiers, your ninjas. After all, a Hokage can't be everywhere at once."

Naruto frowned down at the board, thinking about what his friend had just told him. All of a sudden the pieces were no longer simply game pieces. Instead, he saw them as his friends, from Sakura to Konohamaru. The pawns that he had so easily sacrificed earlier in the game made him feel a little uneasy. Then, his mind seized on what his friend had said last, "Hokage? You think I can do it now?"

His friend's dark brown eyes met his, "Yeah, well, at least more then when you were an eight year-old kid shouting it to everyone. I mean, you did help take down Orochimaru."

Unconsciously, the blonde rubbed his stomach remembering the sensation of being skewered by a sword. He was glad that the old snake was dead as much as the next person, but he wished he hadn't had to rely on the damn Fox to do it. In the back of his mind, he knew he would be dead several times over if it wasn't for the thing sealed within him. During the samurai uprising, he had been cut down by a sword only to be healed by the Fox. A similar thing had happened with Orochimaru. In fact, the only major battle he had been in where he had not used his tenant's power was against Kisame Hoshigaki and that had only been to a standstill.

That thought was depressing and he moved his next piece without much thought, but when Shikamaru didn't counter right away he looked up from the board only to see his friend eye's fixated on the sky behind him. "What?"

His friend nodded behind him, "They're calling an emergency Jonin meeting."

Naruto craned his neck around to look up behind himself. There were about a half-dozen birds flying above the Hokage residence in a tight circle. He knew there would also be a verbal message going out, but the visual signal was supposed to alert those that the other message would not reach. He stood, about to head to the building himself. Even if he was a Chunin now, he wouldn't be allowed in the meeting, but he might be able to interrogate Kakashi afterwards. As he stood he suddenly found himself unable to move.

His eyes flickered towards Shikamaru whose hands were in the Rat hand seal. Before he could question him the other Chunin explained. "It takes a minimum of ten minutes for them to assemble and at least another ten minutes for the meeting. It will take five minutes to get from here to there and for you about three minutes. That means you'll be spending at least seventeen minutes standing there waiting for information. You can waste your time doing that or we could get at least one more game in." He smiled, releasing him and added while moving a piece, "Checkmate."

Fifteen minutes later, the two Chunin made their way to the Hokage residence. They intended to station themselves at the exit of the building and wait to interrogate either Kakashi or Asuma. However, only to Naruto's slight surprise, somebody had already stationed themselves there. "Konohamaru," he said slowing down.

His younger friend turned and with a nod, but no smile said, "Naruto, Shikamaru."

"Do you know anything yet?" Shikamaru asked.

Konohamaru shook his head and explained, "My uncle put out a D-rank mission for building a nursery and I was assigned to it." He paused for a second to glare at Naruto, but it lacked any real hostility. "Well, he heard about the meeting and left right away without telling me anything. I heard a couple of ANBU units came in earlier, some pretty chewed up, but that was just what I heard on the street on my way here."

"So you abandoned a mission?" Shikamaru accused.

The young Sarutobi shot him a dirty look and replied, "There is a clone painting the room."

For the next several minutes they discussed what the meeting could be about, although, with so few clues they were only speculating. The smartest of the three allowed the other two to do most of the theorizing and only suggested that it most likely had something to do with Grass and Rain. As the length of the meeting went on though, their enthusiasm turned to concern.

With no warning, several Jonin suddenly burst out of the building, taking to the roofs on missions that apparently couldn't wait. The rest let out a moment later, some deep in conversation while others simply filed past them in stoic silence. Naruto scanned the crowd looking for his sensei, but Konohamaru spotted his uncle.

"Uncle Asuma, over here," the younger boy shouted, waving his arm.

The older Sarutobi waved back and headed over towards them. The familiar cigarette that had been nearly omnipresent for his adult life was gone. Even Naruto knew that was because of Kurenai and the baby. "Konohamaru, I sort of suspected to see you here, although you're a bit of a surprise Shikamaru."

The lazy Chunin glanced at his two companions and said, "I've fallen in with a bad crowd."

"Yeah well, you were going to hear about this anyways. It seems that the Rain village invaded Fire country last night and we are going to throw them back out."

The three stood there for a second, staring at the older man and then Naruto spoke. "Well, I'm ready to kick some Rain butt."

"Whoa there Naruto, you haven't been assigned to this mission." A new, but familiar voice said as a hand landed on the blonde's shoulder.

He spun around only to find himself staring into the single eye of his sensei. "What? Why not? I'm a Chunin now and-"

"And you haven't been assigned to the mission," Kakashi finished. "Relax, neither Sasuke nor Sakura were assigned either."

Naruto deflated and Konohamaru patted him on the back and said, "You'll have better luck next time."

The blonde glared at his friend. He had used the same words to comfort Konohamaru after he had eliminated him from the last exam and didn't appreciate having them thrown back at him.

* * *

Hanabi Hyuga walked down the familiar hallway that led to her father's office. The summons had been unexpected, but it had to be for an official reason, otherwise he would've just told her at the dinner table. The invasion of the Fire Country jumped to the forefront of her mind, but there was always the topic of Ranmaru. A grimace crossed her face unnoticed and unintentional as she imagined how that conversation would play out.

"Father, I managed to manipulate Ranmaru into sparring with me."

"This is excellent news. Tell me every detail, leave nothing out."

"Well first he created a bunch of mist so I activated my Byakugan, but somehow he managed to sneak up on me and knocked me out."

Oh yeah she thought, that would go over well. Pausing with her hand raised to knock on her father's door, she realized how weird her thoughts had just been. A year ago, she probably wouldn't have expressed that thought internally like that. Her friends must be rubbing off on her. Pushing those thoughts aside, she knocked on the door and waited for permission to enter. When she did she was as quiet as ever.

For once, her father didn't seem to be working on anything and just gestured for her to take a seat. He stared at her, his gaze as unreadable as a statue. It was uncomfortable and it took an effort on her part not to crumble underneath it. After a moment, which felt like an eternity, he broke his silence.

"I'm sure you've heard about the invasion by now." He hesitated on the word invasion as if it wasn't really the right word.

"Yes father," she said with a nod.

"The Hokage has asked the Hyuga clan to supply as many members as possible to the force she's dispatching. I'm sure you're aware that were not exactly in her graces at the moment due to some instances beyond our control." He paused, allowing Hanabi to remember the mysterious appearance of a stolen medical file in her father's office and the fact that one of the branch members had attempted to assassinate the Hokage last year.

"Unfortunately, this came at a bad time. Neji and Ko are both out on missions and can't be recalled, which means we have only eight members to send."

The young Genin had to count all of her relatives twice before she realized that she was being included in that eight. That fact simultaneously thrilled her and terrified her. Unlike Konohamaru's team or Ranmaru's, the most dangerous situation she had ever been in was the Chunin Exam.

"I would like to assign you, but-"

"If it will help the family, father, I will do whatever it takes."

Her response almost surprised her as much as it did her father. He stared at her disbelieving, but quickly recovered his natural facade he usually wore. "When your mother asks, tell her you had to consider it for more than a second. We leave tomorrow, so be sure to go to bed early tonight."

Hanabi bowed low as she was dismissed, but as soon as she was in the hallway a true grin spread across her face. A year ago, her father had been using what status he had in the village to minimize the danger she was in, but it seemed she had finally proven herself. There was a part of her that wanted to run out of her family's home and brag to her to teammates and there was an equal part that wanted to do the same with her friends, but then reality sunk in. She was going into a war zone and that thought sobered her. Still, she had already agreed and she would not humiliate herself by going back on her word.

* * *

Authors note: Again sorry for the long wait. My health hasn't been great lately.


	8. Tracing History

History is written by those who have the time and the inclination to write it.

-Anonymous

* * *

Hanabi was one of the last to file out of the briefing room, feeling like a mouse among giants, both figuratively and literally. She was easily the smallest, youngest and only Genin in the expeditionary force. In fact most members of the group were Jonin. She recognized Asuma from the Sarutobi clan and both of her friends sensei's Ebisu and Anko. That one in particular she had gave a wide berth to. Ranmaru had told her a lot of stories about that woman and her own encounter with the olderkunoichi had not been pleasant either.

She felt something cold and wet touch her hand and she jumped in surprised as a voice called out, "Akamaru behave."

Turning, she saw a large white dog trailing behind her his head lowered as he whimpered at an older teen. Judging from the markings on his face and the fact that he seemed to be accompanied by a dog she guessed it was one of the Inuzuka clan, they were also making a strong showing in the group. The older teen smiled apologetically, "Sorry. He says you just smell like your sister."

For a moment she was confused and then she remembered, "Kiba." She said remembering a much younger Kiba. Like her sister he had remained frozen in her memory, but unlike his sister, he had grown and so had his puppy.

His grin widened showing off his canines. "I thought you might've forgotten me. When they announced the groups, you didn't react when you heard we would be working together."

Hanabi thought back, trying to remember the other people that were in her group. There had been thirty-six ninjas in the briefing room and they had been broken down into six teams of six, but to her chagrin she couldn't remember anyone except her father. "Sorry, I have a lot on my mind."

To her surprise he placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. "We'll do fine. Besides were in the reserves, so the only fighting will probably be doing is against boredom."

She wasn't so convinced of that. The expeditionary force was about a third the size of the estimated enemy force. Their orders were not to meet the enemy force head-on, but to obtain local superiority in each battle. Once she had been briefed, the composition of the teams made a lot of sense. Each group had at least one Hyuga and an Inuzuka. Their mission was reconnaissance and attack. The Inuzuka were to find the trails of the enemy ninjas and a Hyuga would make sure that they were not falling into a trap. Their two clan's abilities really did complement each other she thought.

The latest intelligence reported the invading Rain force was not occupying any settlements which could mean they had already fallen back or were preparing to ambush any counterattack. The caution was justifiable under those circumstances. If they only knew why, they had attacked they could predict their strategy easier. Either the enemy had no intention of staying and only wanted to destroy the bridges to cut them off from Grass or this whole thing might be Rain's way of making some dramatic political point. That would explain why they had not killed most of the ANBU or were occupying any towns. Unconsciously she shook her head realizing that such machinations were beyond her.

Kiba's laugh startled her and when she glared at him he just waved his hand as an apology. "I'm sorry, but you just look so much like your sister just then. Let me guess, you were just thinking that, you shouldn't be thinking about something?" Her surprise must've shown on her face because he added, "Just like Hinata." Suddenly he tensed and said, "Sorry, you probably don't want me to bring her up."

"No, it's okay." She hesitated for a second before adding as casually as she could, "What was my sister like as a ninja?"

The brunette glanced at her for a moment before speaking. "She was quiet and shy at first. You know we had most of the same classes at the Academy, but I don't ever remember talking to her until we were placed on the same team."

"That sounds like her," Hanabi said quietly. After a moment she added, "Can you tell me more?"

* * *

Jiraiya abandoned the toad he had been riding on several miles out of town. It was dark, but he hoped that his contact was still in his office. It would be annoying to wait till tomorrow or pay a nocturnal visit to the man. The man he was to meet was named Ginji, a semi-legitimate accountant who may or may not have been involved in shady transactions in his past. Whatever he had once been, his sole client was now Kakuzu, member of Akatsuki.

Kakuzu was one of the few that he had positively identified as a member of Akatsuki and that was only due to his bounty hunting activities. As it turns out, carrying a corpse around with you while wearing a black cloak with red clouds tended to leave an impression. It only required a little footwork once that fact was discovered to identify him. There were only so many places one could collect a bounty, but then there was the little problem of it being a largely cash business. In the end it had taken about a year to find out that Ginji was the man he wanted.

Walking into town unnoticed Jiraiya took a circuitous route to where he knew the man's office was. It was windowless, but there was only ever a guard at the door when he was inside his office. Circling back around, he headed into an alley and prepared to use the Hiding in a Toad Technique. Even though it was not its original use, he found it a useful technique to sneak into buildings although he preferred not to think why he always climbed out of the toad in a bathroom.

When he started to climb out of the frog's mouth this time, he found that it was a particularly small bathroom and he accidentally hit his hand against the wall with a soft thud. That caused the Sannin to pause for a second, as he imagined being caught half out of the frog's mouth, in a bathroom, but quickly redoubled his efforts and a moment later he was freed. Cracking the door open, he peered through the slight opening.

Ginji was hunched over his desk thumbing through some paperwork unaware that he was being observed. Slipping out of the bathroom he crossed into the darkened room which was only illuminated by a single lamp on the desk. With stealth long practiced and hard won he crossed the darkened room pausing at the edge of the pool of light. Jiraiya would admit that there was still some of a child in him, as he paused for a moment before he said, "Working late I see."

Ginji flinched in surprise as he looked up, "You! Don't sneak up on me like that."

The white haired man smiled enjoying his equivalent of Boo. "I told you, you need to hire a third guard. A twelve hour shift is too long for a guard. Not that it would've stopped me the great Jiraiya."

The younger man sighed, "Well what do you want? You're usually months between visits."

"What are the oldest records you have?"

The man looked up at him clearly annoyed. "Well I've only been doing this job for about three years, but I think the oldest is something like sixty-five years old.

Jiraiya nodded. That would mean the account started about when Kakuzu left his village. He had never learned why the man had chosen to abandon his village, but that was only of slight interest. "I would like to see the earliest record you have."

"Now?" The man questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, it could be important."

Ginji let out an exaggerated sigh before standing, "All right." He nodded towards a spot behind Jiraiya and said, "Flip the lights on."

The ninja did so and watched as the other man unlocked a filing cabinet and open the lowest drawer. After a moment the man produced a thin manila file. "Here's your sixty-five-year-old file. What do you," he broke his sentence off and shook his head. "Never mind, I don't want to know, it's easier that way."

"Yeah, but don't go anywhere. I'll need you again in a few minutes."

"I don't get paid enough for this," Ginji muttered under his breath. He retreated back to his desk and rooted around in his humidor for a cigar.

Jiraiya shook his head as he started thumbing through the papers. "When this is over with, you'll be able to buy your own island if you want." The other man snorted although the statement was true. There was only one reason Ginji had agreed to work with him. Simply put, if there was no longer an Akatsuki organization, then he could quite easily abscond with all the remaining Ryo. It was a self-serving reason, but it made him reliable at the same time.

For the next hour he quietly sifted through the records looking for patterns. The account books were simultaneously simple and complex. There was no one bank that had branches across the continent for the simple reason that there was no way for them to instantly communicate with each other. That was where Ginji became involved to aid the Akatsuki. He maintained several accounts for them always keeping Ryo in each one.

Each entry in the file had the same information attached to it. First the account number, followed by whether it was a deposit, withdraw or a transfer. After that there was the date and location of the transaction. Because all the information had to be delivered by hand, there was a necessary delay of one to three days from the actual transaction to the time it was recorded in Ginji's files. That really didn't matter though for what he was looking for now.

Fortunately, Kakuzu followed a sort of pattern. He made more deposits then withdrawals and when he did make a withdrawal, it was generally a large one. Clearly he didn't fear being pick pocketed or robbed. It wasn't until he was three years into the record that he found an anomaly.

First there was a fairly large influx of money, so large that it couldn't be a bounty. Then a few months later there were two withdraws within a few days of each other on almost different ends of the continent. Jiraiya knew from his extensive travels that it would've been almost impossible for one person to cover that much distance in that short of a time. Even if he did why would he need to withdraw another large sum of money? It's possible he could've lost it in his travels, but that seem unlikely. Grabbing a piece of paper, he wrote the date on it, followed by his name and joined the Akatsuki organization.

Methodically and almost painfully for him, he continued through the records. It wasn't until about twenty years before today that things became interesting. First there was suddenly a lot more Ryo transferred into banks within the Rain Country. Strangely enough the money was transferred into other accounts and from there it became a black hole as those accounts were controlled by someone else. He made a note of that and continued.

From that time onwards, withdraws became more frequent and Jiraiya drew the simple conclusion that was when they had started adding new members. Seventeen years ago, he knew that was when Orochimaru joined the organization and he first learned about it. It didn't seem that long ago, but there it was in front of him.

Shaking his head he went back to comparing the records and eventually concluded that there was a minimum of four different sets of withdraws plus the transfers to Rain Country. Since he knew they traveled in pairs that meant a minimum of eight members which was pretty low, but considering they were all S-class missing-nin it also made them dangerous.

The only other interesting thing he realized was that about a year ago all transfers to banks within the Rain Country stopped. What happened? What changed? Could the Akatsuki have been doing something within the country that required more Ryo than just living expenses? If so why had they stopped or had they completed whatever they were doing? Going back he wrote down the account numbers that had the money transferred into them and was about to stand to leave when there was a knock at the door. With speed that belied his age, he jumped behind the filing cabinet to conceal himself from whoever was at the door.

Ginji had apparently fallen asleep at his desk and startled in his Chair. He groggily opened his eyes and said, "What?" He demanded tiredly.

The door squeaked open and a familiar voice said, "Sir, are you all right? It's nearly four in the morning; you've never worked this late."

"I'm fine. Can't you see I'm working?" He gestured to the papers spread across the floor. "You're on duty till seven, so I'll summon you if I need you," Ginji snapped.

"Yes Sir," the man said as the door closed.

Jiraiya let out a breath of relief. Then he realized the other man was glaring at him. "What?"

"Are you done?" Ginji demanded.

He couldn't help it this time and he grinned, "As a matter of fact I just finished up. Why? Is this old-timer keeping you up?"

The man ignored the question and said, "Then at least help me put these files back in order."

Jiraiya did so, quietly and efficiently which was very unlike himself. Despite his jab at the other man he realized the hours of reading had made his eyes sore and he was even tired. It was rare that he felt his age, but after last night he did.

Ginji left after they finished picking up the files and he waited a few minutes to make sure the guard was far enough away, that he wouldn't see him emerged from the building. When he opened the door, an odd thing happened. He felt rejuvenated. It took him a moment to realize the source of his newfound energy. After nearly two decades of research, there was a distinct possibility that he was closing in on the Akatsuki leadership. At least that's what he was assuming all that money was going towards. Whatever it was, there would certainly be clues and that was all he needed.

* * *

Everything Neji had ever heard about the Rain Country was that they were fanatical about their border security. It was supposedly even difficult to move within the country. However, with the exception of one checkpoint which had been on the road that led into a town, he had seen little evidence of such security measures in the day and a half his team had spent within the country. Perhaps the stories had been exaggerated, he thought to himself.

Granted they had been staying off of anything that could be considered a trail, but still he thought it would be more difficult to move within the country. Now that he thought about it, why had there been no security near the border directly opposite of the village they had been in? It was starting to seem suspicious. Not for the first time, he wished they had been able to cross back into the Grass Country, but that was far behind them now and no longer an option.

"Sensei, can we stop for a minute? My foot is killing me," Jiro asked from the back of the group.

Pausing for a second, he looked over his shoulder. His team was worse for the wear. They looked tired, which was not a surprise considering they had only slept six hours since they had fled the town. His mental clock said they had another twenty minutes before he was going to allow another rest, but, "All right. We'll take a ten minute break."

Each of the Genin almost simultaneously found the nearest spot of dried ground and collapsed onto it. Jiro almost immediately kicked off his sandal and twisted his leg around to take a look at his ankle. Even though Neji wouldn't have minded sitting down himself he made his way over to his student. "What's wrong?"

"It's a blister, I think."

"Let me take a look at it," Neji said squatting in front of him. Jiro had to twist around a little, but once he did the Hyuga's eyes widened in surprise. The blister on his pupil's ankle was almost as big as his thumb. "You're right. It's a blister." After another second of examination, he reached into the pouch at his hip.

"What are you doing?" Jiro asked nervously.

Pulling out a small med kit he explained, "Ordinarily it's best to leave a blister alone. However, given our situation and the fact that it's causing you pain, it has to be drained."

Jiro glanced over at his other teammates who were gravitating towards them out of curiosity. "That's okay sensei. You don't have to trouble yourself. It's fine really."

The Genin tried to pull away, but Neji held his leg tight as he took out a disinfectant cloth and cleaned a kunai with it. He could feel his student tense as the other two leaned in to get a better look. In an attempt to distract him, he said, "You should never wear new footgear on a mission."

"It wasn't my idea," the young boy said. "My mom threw my old pair away because she said they looked to ratty."

"Jiro, you're a ninja now. You're responsible for your equipment and that means everything from weapons to footgear. Do you understand?" As Neji was speaking he pierced the small fluid filled sac with the tip of the kunai.

Clear liquid shot out and Yuudai said in an amazed tone, "Cool." Everyone looked at him and he shrugged, "What? It was."

Shaking his head and wondering if he had ever been like that, Neji disinfected the wound before applying a large band-aid. "We'll change it and disinfect tant it again the next time we stop. This is not the type of environment you want to get an infection in."

"Thanks sensei," Jiro said sitting up and putting his sandal back on. Neji stood to walk away, but before he could his smallest student spoke up again. "Is there something you're not telling us?"

Pausing he glanced at all three of his students who had identical expressions on their faces. "I'm not sure what you mean?"

Akako spoke up this time. "Well, you told us how strict Rain was about their border, but we crossed it with no problem and then when you saw the town with the checkpoint, you avoided it."

The Jonin nodded again surprised by his students. "I'm not positive, but I'm starting to wonder if Rain knew about the attack on that village ahead of time. I didn't want to alert the checkpoint of our presence just in case. Hopefully, when we cross the border again it will be just as easy. However, there is a distinct possibility that I'm overreacting."His students nodded in acknowledgment, but not in reassurance.

Several miles behind them, Musashi along with two other Rock ninjas trailed them. They were now joined by two Rain ninjas that had been manning a checkpoint only a few hours ago.


	9. Rescue Mission

Alliances only continue to exist as long as they are of mutual benefit to all parties. The system of the hidden villages underscores this. For if nothing else, ninjas are eminently practical.

-From the diaries of the Tsuchikage.

* * *

"This sucks," Naruto complained before he was jabbed in the ribs by Sakura.

"Don't complain. It's your own fault for asking for a mission," she finished with a smile.

"Yeah, but I'm a Chunin now. I should be doing something, I don't know, important." He sighed.

Sakura smiled, "I think I remember you saying something similar when you first became a Genin. You still haven't learned that not every mission can be exciting?"

"This isn't even a mission," Naruto muttered. "It's an errand."

"Collecting the gate traffic reports is important, and besides, you get to spend time with me. Wasn't there a time when that was enough?"

"No, I mean yes. I like spending time with you and all, but." He trailed off unable to express what he was thinking.

"I understand," Sakura replied. "You're worried about Kakashi. Don't be, he can handle himself."

Naruto made an uncommitted sound. He really wasn't worried about Kakashi, he was probably one of the strongest ninjas in the village after all, but he wanted to be there. "Are we at war or not?" He asked.

"Not officially." Naruto glanced over at Sakura who was staring straight ahead. "If we declare war, treaties come into effect and what might be a small incident suddenly expands into full blown war."

"But they invaded us," Naruto complained.

"That's what I thought too, but apparently the leader of Rain is a bit of a throwback. From what I've been told this wasn't that uncommon of a thing back before the last war. Lady Tsunade called it diplomacy by force or something like that."

"It seems kind of dumb to me. What does he want then?"

Sakura shrugged, "Good question."

They continued on in a companionable silence until they reached the front gate. "Izumo, Kotetsu," Sakura greeted as they approached the front gate, "Anything interesting to report?"

"No, it's been pretty quiet," Kotetsu said holding up a clip board. "Hey, I suppose you haven't heard anything you could pass on to us lowly grunts, have you?"

Naruto tuned out the conversation as he caught movement from the corner of his eye. Glancing through the open gate at the forest outside, he saw two figures emerge. At first he couldn't make much out, but as they came closer, one of them seemed familiar, but he couldn't put a name to her face. "Hey, Sakura don't we know her?" Naruto said interrupting the conversation.

At his words, the three other ninjas looked up and Sakura said in surprise, "Temari?"

With a name to the face, he remembered her as Gaara's sister. As they came closer, he was about to raise a hand in greeting, but stopped when he saw the serious expression on her face. The other girl with her had a similar expression and the moment they stepped under the gates Temari demanded, "I need a meeting with the Hokage immediately."

There was a confused moment of silence and then Izumo spoke up saying, "All right. We can-"

"Follow me. I'll take you right there." Sakura said interrupting the other ninja.

"Thank you Sakura," Temari said.

Her tone of gratitude sent a shiver up Naruto's spine. In his travels with Jiraiya he had seen a good part of the continent. Naruto had also learned that people in different countries could be very different from each other. One of the things he did remember was that people from the Land of Wind rarely expressed gratitude. It made him wonder why they were here, but one look at the countenances of the kunoichi made him bite his tongue. Clearly they had been pushing themselves hard to get here.

Instead, he sidled up to Sakura and asked, "How do you know Temari?"

Sakura glanced at him and replied, "The Land of Wind has some unique plants that only grow near their oasis. A few months ago I had a mission to collect specimens from them. She was my guide."

"Oh," Naruto said before falling silent for the rest of the journey to the Hokage's office.

* * *

"Enter," Tsunade said looking up from her paperwork. A moment later Sakura popped her head in and she raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Yes?"

"There are two representatives from the Sand village that are asking for a meeting. It seems very urgent."

"All right," she said nodding and rolling up the scroll on her desk. "Sand?" she thought. They had been unusually quiet. It had started to raise some questions, but they had not exactly requested support from them as of yet. Perhaps, given the current situation they had not wanted to trust to messenger hawks. After all, written messages could be misinterpreted, but still, they had not even sent an acknowledgment, or come to think of it, send back any of their birds.

Before she could ponder that thought in detail the door opened again and Sakura led two kunoichi in. Her former apprentice came around the desk to stand at her side as she recognized one of the two as Temari. She had several meetings with her last year prior to the latest round of Chunin Exams. Befitting what she knew of her character, she spoke without preamble and even before the door itself was closed.

"Approximately two days ago our village was attacked and our Kazekage was abducted. It is believed that this action was carried out by the criminal organization Akatsuki."

"What!?" Naruto exclaimed bursting into the room.

Tsunade bit back a curse as she snapped, "Quiet Naruto!" As the Hokage's eyes flickered back to Temari she noticed a fleeting smile cross her lips. Had the Sand ninja known that Naruto was there she wondered as she asked "Are you sure it was the Akatsuki?"

"Yes, we have an ANBU unit following them, but a few hours after the kidnapping, Iwo launched several attacks on some outposts along our shared border. We repelled them, but in case they try anything else we can't spare any more forces to pursue. Under our treaty, we are requesting that you assign us at least one of your trackers in our attempt to rescue our Kazekage."

"Damn" Tsunade thought as she was starting to have a sinking feeling. Why had they finally chosen this time to make their move? She was starting to feel like someone who just realized they were over extended. "What was the last message you received from our village?"

The sand ninja frowned at the apparent non sequitur. "It was about the Grass Rain border crossing. Why?"

The old Sannin closed her eyes for a second and wondered if the Akatsuki organization was intercepting their messages or perhaps the Rain village. Mentally shaking her head, she asked, "So you have not received any of our messages over the last few days?" Temari's frown deepened as she shook her head. Sighing, Tsunade continued, "Rain crossed our border and occupied some land. We're still dealing with the situation."

There was a moment of silence before the other ninja stepped forward and spoke up for the first time, "That doesn't change anything. We have an alliance; will you honor our treaty or allow it to go by the wayside?"

"She's right," Naruto seconded. "We have to help them."

"That's enough Matsuri," the Sand Jonin snapped. Turning her head back to face the Hokage she said, "What Matsuri meant to say was that this is the first true test of our alliance. Some elders in our village have always been skeptical of our alliance. If you don't help us now, it could be the end of it all."

"I'm sorry, but we simply don't have any Hyuga or Inuzuka in the village. I could lend you an Aburame, but it takes them a long time to search an area. I'm sorry, but we just simply don't have any trackers remaining in the village." There was a moment of silence before Naruto spoke up.

"Um, that's not true." Naruto said stepping forward grinning like an idiot, "Sasuke can summon Kakashi's pack. Pakkun and the others are great trackers."

Tsunade frowned, she hadn't known that. "All right, you have your tracker. Also, I'm assigning Sakura, who is one of our finest medics, and Naruto as backup. Bring Sasuke here Naruto." She watched the blonde disappear out of the door, almost before she had finished speaking.

Turning her attention back to Temari, the Hokage added, "I guess there's one more thing we have to discuss."

The older Sand kunoichi raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Someone has cut off communications between our two villages. We need to restore it. The ANBU unit, do you know which way they were heading?"

"East or at least that was the last I heard."

She had actually been expecting that answer. Intelligence had yet to turn up any of the Akatsuki safe houses or any other permanent base, but she suspected that they wouldn't be in any of the great countries.

"If they're heading for the country in between ours then I would like to piggyback another mission on top of your team." Tsunade paused for a second, wondering how Sakura would take this news. So far they had kept Ranmaru's abilities a secret, but she was just about to tell Sand at least some of his abilities. "There is a young Chunin in our ranks that has a rather unique ability. He can conceal his presence and that of others from most techniques. If you're going to sneak up on the Akatsuki, he could be invaluable. However, he cannot be permitted to engage the enemy."

Temari frowned, "All right, but why?"

"What do you know about messenger hawks?" Tsunade asked trying to ignore the slight stiffening of Sakura who was still next to her.

Matsuri spoke up, her tone much calmer than before. "They're used as messengers. They can navigate between villages by using landmarks and some can be trained to track individual chakra signatures."

"That's right," she said nodding in appreciation. "Like most villages, though, we don't train our messenger hawks to follow the same set of landmarks again and again. For example, if we wanted to send a message to your village we might have it travel north first before having it turned west. Unfortunately, like all paths, there are several narrow points and I believe whoever's intercepting our messages has occupied one of these spots. If I wanted to cut off communications between our two villages, I would choose a spot in the country the kidnappers might be heading to."

"So, you want us to travel together until we can catch up with the Akatsuki?" Temari questioned.

"Yes."

"Alright, I see no problem with that. If they don't slow us down it should even be beneficial.

Tsunade nodded and addressed the one remaining Leaf ninja in the room. "Sakura summon Ranmaru and his two teammates."

* * *

Kado slowly circled his opponent. The padded mat giving way under his bare feet, his Sharingan activated. Of course, so was his opponent's, which negated any advantage it would ordinarily give him. He had once read, in one of the diaries of an ancestor, that if two Sharingan users of equal skills sparred, it was a thing of beauty. Maybe that was true, but he and Sasuke were nowhere near the same skill level. Well, there was only one solution for that, he was going to have to trick

Today they were practicing their hand-to-hand techniques and Kado had already broken loose from one hold during this match. As a result, his keikogi was slightly askew and he used that as a ploy to lure Sasuke into attacking.

Sasuke, seizing what he thought was an opening, attacked lunging towards him. Kado stepped into the attack, his fist connecting with Sasuke's side. The other grunted in pain and tried to roll away, but that was what Kado had been expecting. Their legs were now tangled and his fist opened to grab the cloth.

He attempted to pull Sasuke one way while sweeping out his legs from the other when he suddenly felt a knee brought up into his stomach. It caught him off guard and knocked the breath out of him. Stumbling backwards, his arm was grabbed and then he was on his back due to a hip toss, enjoying a view of the ceiling.

"What exactly, were you trying to do Kado?" Sasuke asked looking down at him, raising an eyebrow.

The youngest Uchiha grinned and said proudly, "I'm not exactly sure, but it was new."

The older of the two shook his head, "Stick to what you know. If you tried that in a real battle, you would be dead now."

Kado sat up and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "If you and I were fighting I would run away. Besides, isn't it better to try something new in a friendly spar than on the battlefield?"

Sasuke made a dismissive sound, shaking his head before adding, "We're done for the day."

Climbing to his feet, Kado felt every toss, punch and kick he had received that day. Slowly, he made his way over to his water bottle and asked over his shoulder, "You weren't able to use your Sharingan in that last exchange, right?"

"I couldn't see you for most of the time, so no," Sasuke replied.

"But you still kicked my butt?"

Sasuke was silent for a second before saying, "If nothing else, the Shadow Step should've taught you that relying solely on your Kekkei Genkai is folly."

"Yeah, it has," he said weakly. The Shadow Step was a technique that few ever bothered to learn. This was partly because it was difficult and partly because it was only of any use against a select few opponents. From what he had heard, it had been developed specifically to combat the Sharingan and its predictive abilities.

It didn't exactly counter the Sharingan, but more confused it. By controlling small muscle movements, it was possible to throw the Sharingan off. It was only by inches, but that was enough in a battle. Sasuke had been studying it since he had known him and he helped him where he could. Then a little over a year ago, he had finally fought Itachi while using it, and well, his murderous brother was still alive.

Kado shook his head, not wanting to go down that path again. He really wished Sasuke would give up on his vendetta, but that was an argument he had had too many times. Turning, he was just about to ask if Sasuke was hungry, but he was just in time to see him go out the door. Sighing, he followed him into their private district.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!"

The two Uchiha turned around in the private street to see Naruto running towards them.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!"

"I can hear you Naruto, what do you want?" Sasuke said slightly annoyed.

The blonde skittered to a stop, only a few feet away from them and said excitedly, "We have a mission, it's urgent, we have to go now!"

Sasuke nodded and said with his tone devoid of irritation, "I'll grab my gear."

"Yeah, you do that. You need to head to the Hokage's office when you're ready." Naruto said panting for breath. He was about to turn to leave when he added, "Hey Kado, nice seeing you again."

The youngest Uchiha waved a hand in greeting, but by then Naruto had turned his back on him and was running off again. Sasuke hurried home and he followed at a more leisurely pace. By the time he arrived at their home, Sasuke was rummaging through the small arsenal.

Kado ignored him, knowing that if he tried to help he would just get in the way. Instead, he just headed for the kitchen and munched on an apple. A few minutes later, the house grew silent and he assumed that Sasuke had left. He had not expected a final goodbye or anything like that, but he did wonder if he should stop by the Yamanaka Flower Shop to inform Ino that any plan she might have had with Sasuke were now canceled.

Deciding if he was going to go to that shop, he might as well eat out while he was there. When the apple was down to its core, he got up to throw it away, but as he reached the garbage can, he heard a creak from the floorboards behind him. Spinning, he was about to throw the apple core at the intruder when he caught himself. "Hoshiko! How did you get in here?"

Hoshiko gave a small smile that had more than a hint of their sensei's influence. "Window," she supplied.

"You know most people use doors." After his initial shock he wasn't that surprised. Hoshiko, his teammate and friend, often dropped in.

"A window is simply a door without ambition."

He stared at her, uncomprehending, before deciding to ignore that comment. "So is there a reason for this visit?"

"Actually, there is. I ran into Sakura and she told me that my team had a mission. Get your stuff."

* * *

Authors note: it is with deep regret that I must announce that I shall be going on a one-month hiatus. It wasn't an easy decision for me as I enjoy writing, but there are things I just have to deal with. I shall return on December 3 with my batteries recharged and hopefully back to my ideal schedule of one chapter a week. So either check back on that date or simply use one of those useful alert things. Thank you and again I am sorry for the long delay. Don't forget though, I have six other stories you could go read ;)


	10. Swamp Battle

The first Kage of each hidden village was given a songbird that wouldn't sing. "Kill it," said the Mizukage. "Keep it in its cage," said the Raikage. "Let it go," said the Kazekage. "Encourage it to sing," said the Tsuchikage. "Wait," said the Hokage.

-The Founding of the Hidden Villages

* * *

Musashi found himself grateful to the climate of Rain Country. It had only drizzled a few times since he started his pursuit of the fleeing Leaf ninjas, but that had actually aided in his tracking of them. Not only was there large patches of moss that were easily disrupted when tread upon, but muddy footprints had also been common. However, even with the terrain working for him, it did take both experience and attention to detail to notice the small signs.

Passing by a tree, he paused noticing a scrape in the moss. It looked as if it had happened when someone had been in the process of sitting down or standing up. "They stopped here. Search the area."

The four other ninjas behind him fanned out and looked for anything that might tell them how recently their prey had been here. He didn't really expect them to find anything, but rest stops were prime locations for leaving false trails and he didn't want to lead them in the wrong direction.

"I found something," one of the Rain ninjas called out.

Of course, they have to make him a liar he thought to himself. Making his way over to the man, he kept his eyes on the ground looking for anything. The man was pointing down at a patch of moss that had a small piece of white paper on top of it. Leaning down, he examined it.

The paper was like the type that Band-Aids were wrapped in. It was a small piece and a sly smile crossed his lips as he picked it up. The paper was dry. Even on top of the moss, the paper, in this environment, wouldn't remain that way for long. It should have at least absorbed some water. "They were here. Probably less than twenty minutes ago."

"Probably less," the older of the two Rain ninjas said looking down at the paper in his hand.

"What's up ahead?" Musashi asked trying to remember the man's name. The two native ninjas exchanged a look for only a second and he cursed this reactionary suspicion they all seemed to carry. "We're all allies here."

"There's a swamp maybe half a mile in that direction," the younger of the two ninjas said nodding a head. "Beyond that there's an abandoned settlement, although you won't find it on most maps."

An abandoned settlement he thought, could they be heading there for some reason? Still, he pushed that idea to the side for now as he didn't expect to get much information out of these two. "What about the swamp? How big is it?"

Again, the two hesitated before the older of the two spoke. "It's pretty much between two hills. As a result, it's more long then wide from our current location. It's not particularly deep. Anywhere between two and ten feet depending where you are and it kind of sneaks up on you. Last time I was there, only the trees in the middle of the swamp were dead."

Closing his eyes, the Jonin thought back on the three Genin he had seen back in the village. They were young, but would they have the ability to tree walk or water walk? Considering this was a Jonin from Konoha, they were tracking, that would be a decision he would weigh heavily. If he had been from Kiri, the hidden village he was originally from, the Jonin might very well end up using his students as distractions to make good his own escape. At least that's how it would've been done back in his day. Of course, it would help if he knew that they knew they were being pursued.

"If they go around the swamp, we should have a good chance of catching up to them. If they go through, there is still a chance we could intercept."He muttered to himself before turning to the two newest members of his little team. "If we catch up to them, they're either going through the swamp or around, get in the water and wait until we attack them."

"What's the attack plan then?" Zinan, the large Iwa ninja ask.

"You'll attack them first. Hopefully they'll think it's just you. Then our two Rain ninjas can attack from below. We should have the element of surprise, and if you can grab one of the Genin as a hostage, do so. There's no reason we should fight more than we have to."

He stood, straightening his back hearing a few cracking sounds that hadn't been there a few years ago. "Does everyone understand?" He waited, but no questions came so he said, "Move out."

* * *

A swamp, Neji thought staring across the murky water, he could've done without it. As this was the Rain country, he shouldn't have been all that surprised, but it had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"What are we waiting for?" Jiro asked.

"Wait here," Neji said activating his Byakugan and walking onto the water, "I'm going to go check something out."

The swamp was fairly shallow. The trees in the center of it were dead though. Their branches had long since fallen off and the trunks that still stood had been bleached white as bone. As the swamp was in a small valley between two large hills, it was longer than wide. Having only recently introduced his students to water walking, he didn't think they could make it across the entire length without falling in.

The calculation he did in his head was simple. It would take longer to go around the swamp than it would if he just carried his students across one at a time. Neji took one last look around, in a vain hope of finding someplace that might be narrow enough to cross, but not finding it, he started to walk back to his students.

His Genin were busily preoccupied with swatting at mosquitoes to take much notice of his return. "I'm going to carry you across the swamp one at a time. Yuudai you're going first."

Predictably, his students complained, finding the whole idea embarrassing, but the branches were too thin to support their weight and even if they could, the dead trees in the center were iffy at best. Neji wasn't sure why he had indulged them in their complaining, but less than a minute later he was making his way across the swamp with Yuudai on his back. On his next trip, he brought Akako, whose face became redder than he ever remembered Hinata's being. It wasn't until he was halfway across the swamp that he remembered the anatomical differences between boys and girls. Even on his way back through the swamp he was still doing a fair impression of his deceased cousin himself.

He had left Jiro for last, simply because he thought he would get the biggest fight out of him, but the boy climbed on without a word. After a minute the Genin muttered, "I used to carry my sister like this."

"That's right, I forgot, you have a sister. How old is she again?" Neji inquired trying to fill the awkward silence.

"She is nine, but she'll be ten next month." Jiro added darkly, "She's only two inches shorter than me."

"You'll grow."

"Everyone tells me that," the boy muttered.

The Jonin briefly wondered if he was just complaining about being short or if this was more directly related to his crush on Akako. Even though it really wasn't his place to interfere, there was an echo of his cousin in his student's voice and having never truly made amends to her, he substituted. "Why don't you just try being nicer to her? Perhaps even try not hitting her."

The Genin was silent for a moment before saying dejectedly, "But, we used to do it all the time."

Neji was silent for a moment and slowed his pace. "Jiro, she's grown up. People change, but that doesn't mean you still can't be friends or even something more as long as you're aware of that fact."

His student was silent for a moment and then he suddenly stiffened. "Sensei, I saw a bubble."

Activating his Byakugan, Neji quickly scanned the area. Not finding the distinctive pattern of a human chakra system, he relaxed and said, "It was probably just methane."

"Methane?" his student echoed confused. "Why would there be methane here?"

The Jonin hesitated before answering, "When biological material decays underwater, it produces methane**.** It then can be released when something shifts underwater or there is a sufficient amount."

"Why do you know all this stuff sensei?"

A small smile of amusement crossed Neji's lips. "A ninja should learn as much as they can. Since we are sometimes required to go on infiltration missions, information is part of your disguise. For example, if you had to steal some documents from a building that was undergoing renovations and security was too tight, what would you do?"

"Fight my way in?" Jiro answered uncertainly.

"Well you could, but that's a very good way to get yourself killed. It would be better to try to find a way to walk in, like disguising yourself as a member of the construction team. Of course, if you're stopped by the guards and they start asking you about what you're doing there you have to know something about construction to bluff your way through or else your cover will be blown." His student didn't respond, but it was a thoughtful silence, and perhaps optimistically, Neji hoped that this conversation might have an impact on the young Genin.

The shuriken that hit Neji right behind his knee caught him completely off guard. It caused his leg to buckle and he lost his concentration on the chakra flow to his feet. This sent both himself and his student into the murky water.

For a second, he panicked. Then he felt something grab his foot and begin to pull him down. Instinctively, Neji kicked at the grasping hands, but then his other foot was grabbed. His body and mind wanted him to fight towards the surface, but training overrode instinct.

Activating his Byakugan, he tried to get a visual on his assailants. However, for the first time in his life, he couldn't see others chakra system. If his brain was not already feeling the effects of lack of oxygen that fact would've been greatly more concerning. Fighting his instincts, he bent down, feeling pain from his leg shoot through his body. He struck at one pair of hands holding him.

His strike was not deadly, but the pain caused his attacker to release him. Still only partially freed, and needing breath more than ever, he pulled on his other leg. Having no leverage, Neji was drawn directly towards his attacker. Even though the visibility was almost nonexistent, he was able to grab his attackers arm. The Gentle Fist usually didn't require a lot of chakra as it relied on pinpoint accuracy, but that was impossible here and now. The blow he sent into the person's chest was ten times his usual amount.

His opponent's body went limp even as he grabbed it and tried to find the head. His fingertips brushed against the re-breather, and since his opponent no longer had any use for it, he pulled it free. The last time Neji had used one of these things was back at the Academy, but they were simple enough. Slipping it in his mouth, along with some water, he breathed the life-giving oxygen.

After several breaths, he was able to think more clearly. His first concern was Jiro. If his student had been pulled down like he had been there was probably little he could do.

Again he tried activating his Byakugan, but saw nothing. Neji knew of nothing that could block the Byakugan like this. Humans, and particularly ninjas, all had well-defined chakra systems and those had been unquestioningly ninjas that had grabbed him a moment ago. It was impossible that he could not see his attackers. Still, the situation was what it was and not as bad as he thought it first. Strangely, he could still see the outline of trees and debris on the bottom which must be covered in algae.

Briefly, he wondered if the ninja he had injured was withdrawing from the battle or was he still out there waiting to strike. Neji couldn't tell and he suddenly realized that this was how most other ninjas must feel. It was disconcerting to say the least. Still, no matter what, though, he still had his students to take care of and at least one more ninja.

The enemy would be expecting him to emerge somewhere near where he went under, so he would disappoint them. Kicking off from the bottom, he swam underwater for about ten feet until he swam next to a tree and started towards the surface.

His head emerged from the murky water slowly in an attempt not to make any noise, but what he saw froze him. Jiro was staring directly at him, and that was not a good thing, as he was being held as a hostage by the same ninja Neji had battled in the woods earlier.

"Sensei he has a-"

Whatever his student was going to say was cut off as a kunai was pressed against his throat as the ninja threatened, "Get out of the water or I'll kill him."

Unable to do anything else, he placed his hands on the surface and climbed out of the water. He met Jiro's eyes and tried to convey that everything was going to be okay, but he only saw terror reflected back at him.

"Drop the mask and your pouch into the water."

Neji did as he was told slowly, trying to buy time. The man was standing about eight feet away which was well out of his reach. It would take at least three steps for the enemy to be in range and that was enough time for Jiro's throat to be slashed. He would have to close the distance, and even then, when he made his move he would have to go for the head as it was the only vital spot not being protected by the human shield.

"Now tell your students to do the same," the man spoke again.

His eyes flickered to the far bank where his other two students were barely visible. So they didn't have enough ninjas to secure his other two Genin. That was good to know. Raising his voice he shouted, "Akako, Yuudai, get out of here."

"I will kill him," the Ishi clan member said.

Neji inched forward and said as calmly as possible, "If you kill him, I'm going to kill you."

"Don't try it. I know you Konoha Jonin. You wouldn't risk one of your students, at least not when you know you could all survive."

That was true. During peacetime, if a ninja was captured by another village while on a mission, it was not uncommon for a small ransom to be asked for their release. Of course, that wasn't a guarantee and this was definitely not peacetime. Still, he needed to buy more time. He had not even closed the distance by a single foot yet. "You forget I have a Kekkai Genkai. If I'm taken prisoner, I very much doubt I'll ever see my village again."

"Possible, but your three Genin will."

Neji wondered if a Heavenly Spin could create a vortex. No, that wouldn't work. There was no guarantee that Jiro would be able to get away. He was starting to grasp at straws. Then he noticed Jiro's fingers.

One of his arms was firmly pinned against his body, but his other arm had some movement at least below the elbow. His fingers were clenching and unclenching, as if he was trying to attract his sensei's attention. Neji wasn't sure what his student was planning, but if his student was going to make a move, so would he. As subtle as he could, he mimicked his students sign.

Jiro made his move. Reaching up, he grabbed the kunai and tried to pull it away from his throat. He didn't stand a chance against the older ninja, but he was able to keep it from cutting his throat. At that same instant, Neji darted forward. He aimed a Juken strike at the enemy's forehead. If it had connected, the sudden surge of chakra would've fried his brain.

Faced with the option of either standing there and getting killed or dropping his hostage, the Iwa ninja chose the better part of valor and retreated. Jiro fell into the water with a splash that Neji had to jump over. He attacked the Ishi clan member with a savagery that was alien to him. Several times he hit vital spots on the man's body, but as it had turned to stone they were completely ineffective.

"Behind you Sensei," Jiro shouted from where he clung to a tree.

Neji was used to having a near perfect view of the battlefield and didn't react as he should have. Pain shot through his shoulder as he felt a kunai tear through muscle. The Hyuga spun into an Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin and caught his newest attacker. Unfortunately, it wasn't at full strength, but it was strong enough to send his attacker flying into the water.

Neji stumbled to his side, barely able to keep enough chakra flowing to keep him on the surface of the water. The large Iwa ninja started towards him, slowly, almost warily. With a detached disinterest, the Jonin watched his opponent approach. Digging deep, he prepared for one more attack when something unexpected happened.

From nowhere a kunai appeared where the Ishi clan ninja's eye had just been. The man's expression registered shock and then he fell into the water lifelessly. Neji knew that none of his students possessed that level of accuracy and he turned his head to see where it had come from. In the trees around him, there were a half-dozen rain ninjas. His last thought before losing consciousness was that he had been saved from one group of hostiles, only to be captured by another.

* * *

Authors note: some of you may notice that my quote in the beginning is something similar to the Songbird question. I will admit it was done consciously. Supposedly, this question was asked of three great warlords and it was simply what would you do with a Songbird that wouldn't sing? They supposedly answered thusly. Nobunaga answer: "Kill it." Hideyoshi answered: "Make it want to sing" and Tokugawa replied: "Wait."


	11. In the Enemy Steps

The three keys to victory are preparation, preparation and preparation. Prepare by being aware of your surroundings. Prepare by being more knowledgeable then your opponent. Finally, prepare your weapons. The majority of battles are won or lost even before the first weapon is drawn.

-Konohagakure Academy Handbook

* * *

A large group of eight ninjas quickly, but silently, made their way through the forest. The sun had been up for less than an hour and they had set out with the predawn light. Their pace was set by a bird in the sky. It was homing in on the distinctive chakra patterns of the ANBU they were hoping to link up with. The pace was brisk and the younger members of the team were having a little trouble keeping up. None uttered a complaint though. Their mission was time sensitive and none wasted breath.

Sakura Haruno glanced over at her boyfriend for the tenth time that hour. It was still odd for her to think of the word boyfriend followed by Naruto, but what had her concerned was his silence. True, they were on a mission and it was to save Gaara. He seemed to have a connection to the Kazekage, which she didn't understand, but he was too focused, too quiet. It had her worried.

Summoning up her courage, she sidled up next to him and said, "Hey."

Naruto glanced over at her, but quickly shifted his gaze forward again.

Okay, there was something seriously wrong here Sakura thought. "What's wrong and don't say nothing."

He was silent for a second, but eventually said, "Gaara. He's trying so hard, and these Akatsuki bastards, they come in and take him just because he's a Jinchuriki." Naruto lashed out at the trunk of a tree as they passed it with a loud crack.

Sakura winced at the sound and glanced over at the others, who were pointedly not looking over at them. Turning her attention back to Naruto, she reviewed what she knew. She had been Tsunade's apprentice for years and she had learned far more than medical techniques. For example, she knew what a Jinchuriki was and she knew that the Akatsuki was targeting those unfortunate individuals. She, however, was completely clueless as to why they would want to do this.

"They're not going to get me."

Naruto's comment triggered a series of sudden realization in Sakura's mind. The Kyuubi had not only attacked their village the same year that Naruto was born, but the same day. With that knowledge and the comment he had just made she could put two and two together. When she looked back over with surprise Naruto was staring straight ahead with that focused look again. "I didn't know," she said quietly.

"There was a law. The Third decreed that no one was to talk about it. I didn't find out until just before graduating."

She felt a pain in her stomach as she remembered how she treated him back then. It couldn't have been easy finding that out and she hadn't exactly been kind to him when they were first put on a team together. "Have you ever told anyone?" She asked the question to fill the silence, fearing what conclusion he might jump to if she was silent for too long.

He smiled a little and that made her feel better as he said, "Konohamaru, but that's it."

She snorted. It was a very unfeminine gesture and it caused her cheeks to color with embarrassment as he looked over at her. "Sorry, it's just sometimes it seems like he's your brother you know? It just struck me as funny."

"Brother," Naruto echoed smiling. "I like that."

She smiled back.

"Break," Temari shouted back from up ahead before whistling loudly. The bird made a slow lazy arc before descending and landing on a branch. By the time the branch had settled from the unexpected weight all eight ninjas had gathered around.

"We're about to cross the border," Temari began. "Can you start suppressing our presence now?" She asked Ranmaru.

The lavender hair ninja looked towards her as if asking, 'Is it okay?' She nodded encouraging him and a moment later the air was filled with small glowing particles.

For her and his teammates this wasn't all that interesting, but the others were more intrigued. One of the first things she had discovered about Ranmaru was that he didn't need to produce the fog to use his ability. It certainly helped in a fight, but it was the particles themselves that seemed to suppress chakra.

"Is this it?" Temari asked as she watched the glowing specks of white land on her.

"Yeah," Ranmaru answered.

Sakura jumped in and elaborated, "It doesn't take much effort for him to do it, but when he does even a Hyuga won't see him."

The Sand kunoichi raised an eyebrow at that, but continued, "When we make contact with the enemy, you three stay back," she nodded towards Kado and his two teammates before turning to Sasuke. "Can you summon a dog now? They might be able to smell something before we stumble onto it."

Sasuke nodded, and a moment later, there was a puff of smoke and Pakkun stood there blinking up at him. "Great, it's you. Well, what do you want?"

"Your nose," Sasuke replied. Pakkun nodded, acknowledging the order and muttered something under his breath that his summoner chose to ignore.

"All right, let's head out and tighten up the formation," Temari said and whistled for the bird to take flight again.

They started after her and Naruto came up to her side this time and said with a slight smile. "You know, the last time the three of us were in this country, we found those forbidden weapons. You remember?"

"That's not something you forget. It started a war after all."

"Yeah, it did." Naruto said quietly, but he was still smiling.

Sakura knew him well enough that he wasn't thinking of past battles, but instead he was thinking of a friend of his, Otonashi, a ninja from Kumo. At least that bond she understood.

"Hold up," Pakkun said several hours later as he came to a sudden stop, sniffing the air.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"Blood," Pakkun answered, "lots of it."

"I can take Ranmaru and scout ahead," Sakura volunteered.

Temari paused and looked up at the bird they were following. It was circling not that far ahead of them. After a moment, she nodded her agreement and the two oddly colored hair ninjas disappeared into the woods.

Sakura took the lead at first, but once the group was out of sight she allowed Ranmaru, who was better suited for the task, to take the lead. Perhaps it was more out of habit than anything else that she tried to at least obscure the extent of his abilities. She couldn't help it, she felt protective of him. It had been Naruto and herself who had found him, after all.

Several years ago, they had stumbled across Ranmaru. At the time he had been traveling with a man named Raiga, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Actually, the two were being chased by several samurai at the time. In that battle, Raiga, who had already been hurt, had sustained significant wounds well beyond her healing even now. However, even as he lay there dying, the man's only concern had been for Ranmaru and she had promised to take care of him. Even though she had come to realize that Raiga had not been exactly sane, she still wondered if he would approve of how Ranmaru turned out.

This was the first actual mission she had been on with him, but she had known him for years and had faith in his abilities. Her bond with the boy was not as strong as the one Naruto shared with Konohamaru, but as she had spent years being his personal physician, she could honestly say that she knew him better than anyone else did.

She saw his eyes turn red, and after a moment, she asked, "Can you see anything?"

Ranmaru frowned before coming to a stop. "There was a battle. Five of them are dead. One of them is wounded pretty badly. It looks like he's wearing a Sand Hitai-ate."

So the Sand ANBU had managed to bring down one of the Akatsuki members, Sakura thought, but at a high price. Her training now pulled her in two different directions, her medical training pulled her forward, but her training as a ninja made her turn around and go back to report.

* * *

Useful pawns are hard to replace, Madara Uchiha thought to himself. When he had killed Nagato a year ago he already had a replacement in mind, but that person had not been so easy to manipulate. Chiriku, the head monk of the Fire Temple, would have never joined him willingly, but as he only wanted to use the man for summoning the Demonic Statue, that didn't really matter.

Of course, that meant he was down by three fighters and not just two. Even given that complication, though, his plan was proceeding along nicely. The sealing of the one-tails would be finished soon, and within seven days he intended to have both the four and five-tales within his possession. The two tails would not be far behind and they knew exactly where the three-tail was.

He was confident that they could seal them in groups of two with only a short rest between the two of them. By then the war should be in a stalemate and they could pick off the remaining Jinchuriki at their leisure. He was almost amused by it. Decades of planning came down to only a few months worth of work.

He sensed a change in the flow of chakra coming from Zetsu and said, "What?"

The half man half plant was silent for a second, but then said, "Intruder's."

Madara was a bit surprised by that. He thought the Sand Village would be too preoccupied to send anymore then one team. Still, it was bad timing. They still had several hours of work left to do here and Sasori didn't have any more sacrifices. "Details," he said in a low tone.

Zetsu was silent for a moment, which was odd since he was normally precise, but when he answered there was something off in his tone. "There are eight of them. Two from the Sand village and the other six are from the Leaf. Among them are Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. Three of the others are fairly young and only one of them has a Chunin vest. They have just met up with the wounded ANBU. I didn't sense them until then."

It was only the decades of being a ninja that kept Madara from showing his surprise. In all the years he had known Zetsu, only he had managed to sneak up on him unobserved. Having a group of eight ninjas accomplish that feat was, worrisome. If it had just been one ninja he could've seen it, but eight?

The fact that the group was so large meant either Zetsu had been lax, which was unlikely, or one of them had a special ability. That was an interesting possibility. Kirigakure had spent a great deal of time investigating ways of masking chakra. That thought trailed off as he wondered if one of those experiments had been more successful than they had thought. Since the new Mizukage had taken charge, all genetic experiments had been canceled and in some cases liquefied. Could one of them have escaped that process? If they had, he could see why they would make their way to Konoha

"Can you sense them now?"

"No," Zetsu responded without hesitation.

That was not good. The way the barrier tags were designed were that once they were remove they copied the chakra pattern of whoever had removed them. If they couldn't sense the chakra pattern they did nothing. That meant they could be fighting up to eight ninjas while still attempting to seal the one-tail, and he wasn't sure what would happen if the ceremony was interrupted.

Useful pawns are hard to replace, but in the end they were pawns. "Zetsu, record them. Sasori, Deidara, take care of the intruders. Use the fallback plan if necessary." In the end, it was a pawns destiny to sacrifice itself for the King.

* * *

"I hate corpses," Kado muttered.

"You're in the wrong profession then," Hoshiko said turning a page.

The two of them, along with Matsuri from the Sand village, stood around the unidentified corpse. The four other bodies in the clearing were that of the ANBU that had been sent to tail the Akatsuki, but this guy looked to be one of them. So they had borrowed the Bingo book from the fallen and were busily thumbing through them, hoping to find a match.

Turning the page, he paused before looking down at the corpse and back to the photo again. "I got him."

Turning the book around so that the other two could see, it was snatched from his hand by Matsuri. She read the entry before turning and walking over to Temari, who was standing with Sakura and the sole survivor of the original team. They followed, but not before Hoshiko muttered, "Jerk."

Despite the situation, Kado smiled as he approached the small group. It wasn't that often that Hoshiko would come to his defense, if only slightly.

"He was one of ours," Matsuri announced. "His name was Mukade, he was a Jonin, disappeared shortly after gaining that rank."

Temari took the report in without blinking and said, "It doesn't matter. He wasn't really one of them."

"It was a technique," the wounded man said.

"Like a transformation?" Kado said uncertainly.

"No, different, he was literally."

The man tensed up in pain and Sakura said, "Quiet, your ribs are broken among other things. In fact if you're done, I would like to let him sleep," she addressed her last comment to the Sand ninja.

Temari nodded and picked up the explanation. "It was some sort of Jutsu. When he attacked, he said he looked like another ninja named Kisame Hoshigaki."

"I fought against him," Sakura said. "He's very strong."

"Right, but the real problem is the trail seems to end here."

"Well, I'm sure the others will find the trail again," he said optimistically.

The amount of water that had been used in this area had washed away any scent, so Naruto, Sasuke and Ranmaru had been sent out in the hope that they could pick up the trail once they left the formal battleground. Unfortunately, that meant the rest of them were going to have to sit around and wait for their return.

Temari didn't seem to hear him, but instead walked over to the body of Mukade and stared down at it as if it was going to give up a secret. A moment later, Sakura joined her.

"Well the same to you," he muttered, annoyed that he had been ignored.

"Jerk," Hoshiko muttered, and this time, he knew the comment was addressed to him.

"I can't help it. I'm feeling useless."

"This is new for you?"

"Well," he began knowing this was going to annoy her, "as a Chunin, I felt as if I should be more useful. Of course, as a Genin I'm sure you can't understand."

"Keep it up and you won't make it to Jonin."

Ordinarily he would've smiled at that, but at that moment Sakura brought out a scroll that she sealed the body into. It was a common practice for medical-nin to do that, but he found it unsettling.

Sensing his unease, Hoshiko spoke up. "Our mission really hasn't started yet. Remember we have to find whose ever interfering with our communications."

"I know, and if I'm right about how far we've traveled, there's a location ten miles to the north, but we can't check it out until they don't need Ranmaru anymore."

"I always forget how much you can whine."

He was just about to argue that he wasn't whining, but at that moment the missing trio arrived back at the clearing and Naruto announced, "There some weird chakra a mile west of here, lots of it."

"We couldn't pick up the trail, but I don't think we have to," Sasuke elaborated.

"All right, show us the way," Temari announced.

Not for the first time, Kado wondered if having the sister of the person they were trying to rescue in charge of the squad was a good idea.


	12. Pulling Strings

When your enemies turn kunai upon each other, wait until they are done.

-Konohagakure Academy Hand Book

* * *

"In coming, high," Sasuke shouted.

Naruto was a bit slow to react at first, looking over at Sasuke before looking up. It took him half a second to spot the small cluster of dots in the sky rapidly descending towards them. Before he could do anything, though, Temari swung her oversized fan, producing a gale force wind, knocking the objects from their deadly trajectory. They landed around the group each producing a small explosion that combined turned the surrounding trees to kindling.

As the dust settled around them, an unfamiliar gravelly voice said, "Deidara, it seems your creations have failed."

"Master Sasori, they were experimental pieces. A failure, but art must be daring."

"Your creations are transient," the voice said in a flat tone

"They represent life," the other man responded, his tone increasing in volume, "A brief beautiful moment which ends in a bang."

By now the dust had settled and it revealed two men wearing similar cloaks. One was short and hunched over while the other stood on top of an unusually large white owl hovering above the trees. Neither of the two seemed that interested in the group of ninjas they had just attacked.

"The guy on the bird is the one who captured Gaara," Temari said quietly.

That was almost enough for Naruto to see red and he was about to attack, but somebody grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"Calm down Naruto. They're provoking us," Sakura said quietly.

"But we have to-"

"We have to rescue Gaara," she interrupted, "but we have to get past these two first. "Temari, what can you tell us."

Without turning she answered, "Bird guy is a long-range fighter. He uses explosives, Matsuri, Sasuke and I will take him. I don't know anything about the other one, but do you think you two can handle him?"

"Just let me at him," Naruto growled.

"All right, but if you two defeat your opponent before we do, come help us. We'll do the same for you. As for you other three, go do your mission."

"Yeah sure, but that one isn't breathing." Kado said from the back of the group.

"What," Sasuke said as he turned his head towards the squatting man. "You're right, he's not."

"That's not possible," Sakura said.

"Not if he's a puppet," Temari supplied. "If that's the case then the real user can't be far away. My brother told me he has to keep a line of sight on his puppets."

"So I will just smash it and then he'll have to show his face or run away," Naruto supplied.

"All right, on three we will all go our separate ways. One, two, three."

The group of eight broke into their assigned groups and dispersed in three different directions. Naruto ran straight for his opponent, who didn't seem to be moving at all. Summoning a half-dozen clones, he used them as a screen to conceal his true attack. With help from one of them he created a Great Rasengan.

A dozen steps away from his target, something exploded from the ground, skewering one of his clones before whipping around and taking out several others. Naruto was forced to jump back as the clone that was assisting him was destroyed. The tail made a full circle before straightening and retracting back into the ground.

"Must we drag this out? I have places to go you know and I hate wasting time."

"Yeah, well, why don't you just come out from wherever you're hiding and fight us?"Naruto shouted looking around the trees half looking for a hiding spot and half expecting someone to emerge.

"So, you know I'm a puppet. I suppose it's only fair since I know quite a bit about you Naruto Uzumaki. For example you use clones as others use kunai. You may not be the Jinchuriki I'm after, but I'll take you down anyway."

"For someone who hates wasting time, you certainly talk a lot," Sakura said eyeing the puppet.

"Actually," he said slowly, "I'm just distracting you."

The ground erupted again, but this time under Sakura's feet. She jumped back out of reach of the tail, but as she was in the air and unable to change her direction, a barrage of Senbon shot from Sasori's mouth. Naruto didn't think, but just reacted. Creating a string of clones, they pushed Sakura out of the way just in time. The rest of the clones then attacked head-on again as he retreated into the trees. The clones were cut down like wheat before a scythe as the Akatsuki member turned his attention on them.

As the tail started to retract into the ground again Sakura attacked. She didn't aim for the main body or the tail, but rather the ground in between. Her fist created a crater that Tsunade would've been proud of. The compacted dirt prevented the tail from retracting and that was when Naruto made his move.

Circling around the trees with a Rasengan in hand, he attacked from behind and above. A second before he made contact with Sasori, his head twisted around and he took three Senbon in the shoulder. Momentum carried him forward and something seemed to dart out of the body just as the Rasengan tore through it.

Naruto's satisfaction in destroying the puppet was immediately destroyed as the three wounds started to burn. His memories of Haku's Senbon were nothing like this. Those had not gone so deep or had burned. Grabbing one of the needles, he pulled it out and that sent a jolt of pain that sent him to a knee with a cry.

"Naruto, are you all right?" Sakura called out.

"Yeah, just concentrate on getting this guy," he said pulling out the other two Senbon.

"Don't lie," a new voice said. "You have poison surging through your body. If you were not a Jinchuriki you would be at least incapacitated, if not dead by now."

Naruto looked over from where the voice had come from and blinked, wondering if the drug was having an elusive effect on him. The speaker looked to be fourteen at the most, but he wore the standard Akatsuki cloak. Something that Kakashi had once told a much younger Naruto came back to him. 'There are ninjas younger than you, but stronger than me.' For a moment he was rendered speechless, but that affect was ruined a moment later when Sasori allowed his cloak to fall.

"You're a puppet?" Sakura said half astonished and half horrified.

There was an explosion in the distance and even though Sasori's facial expression remained neutral, he seemed amused, as he said, "Flesh is like clay. Useful, but only as a starting point because as soon as anything is born, it starts to decay. Puppets on the other hand are immortal. Both mediums have their advantages." With a flourish of his arms, he pulled a scroll from his back and held it high in the air with a chakra string. "I have created a medium that is superior to either of those two."

Before either of them could do anything, a hatch opened up on his chest and visible chakra strings connected to the scroll. Dozens of objects emerged from the scroll, each revealing themselves to be a puppet. "Performance of a Hundred Puppets," Sasori supplied. "All of these are ninja I have defeated." With that, they attacked.

Naruto could see that just about every puppet had a weapon and some even had two, but once they started to move he could immediately see they were limited in their movements. He dove right into the melee with Sakura right behind him.

At first they seem to be making headway. The two of them smashed through a dozen puppets, but what they could not see was that their attackers had broken into three groups. One group concentrated on Naruto and another concentrated on Sakura while the third group drove the two apart. Both of the Leaf ninjas were separated from each other and then surrounded by a wall of spinning blades.

Naruto glanced frantically around, trying to find a weak spot. His first thought was to try to jump over them, but at that moment two puppets jumped over the spinning ring. Catching the arm of one of the puppets, he tossed it into the other. Both fell back against the spinning blades and were sliced to pieces. The top half of one flew into the air before hitting against the blades again and being torn apart. The destruction of the two puppets had not even slowed the others down.

After the initial attack there wasn't a follow-up and experimentally he drew a kunai and threw it at the wall of puppets. It clashed against one of the blades and embedded itself at his feet.

Quickly running through his options, he didn't find any he liked. Trying to jump over it would probably get him cut down and there wasn't enough room to use an exploding tag unless he wanted to be caught in the blast too. There was probably only enough room to create four or five clones, so that left tunneling his way out. He hadn't tried it since his battle against Neji, but he was pretty sure he remembered how.

Reaching into his weapon pouch, he pulled out a smoke bomb to conceal his actions. A second later he was underground and he felt something hit the ground above as he escaped. Unlike in his battle against Neji, he didn't have a clear idea where Sasori was, so when he emerged from the ground it took him a second to find the bastard.

For the third time that day he charged the enemy. The puppets intercepted him again and he dodged and weaved around their blades. If he could take Sasori out then the puppets would become discarded tools and they could get onto their real mission. When he was still a good distance away, though, there was a sudden gust of wind and the puppets fell as if they just had their strings cut.

Naruto blinked in surprise as the small clearing was now littered with fallen puppets then he saw the path of destruction where Sasori had been. At the beginning of the path stood Temari, her hair was disheveled and she bled freely from a wound above her eye. She was flanked by Sasuke and Matsuri who were no better off than her.

His eyes followed the widening path of destruction that was strewn with trees until his eyes landed on a tan torso. Impossible as it seemed, it twitched and the body started to reassemble by itself. First the torso seemed to hover, then the limbs and then his head reattached. It wasn't perfect though. His right arm was cut off at the elbow and the torso itself had several large gashes that went all the way through it.

With his head reattached, he looked at the new comers and asked, "You managed to kill my partner?"

"Once I cut his wings, he wasn't so tough," Temari sneered.

Sasori nodded and raising his one good arm said, "Negotiate?"

"And why would we do that?" Sasuke asked unsheathing his sword.

"Because," he smiled as he said, "I know of an imminent attack upon your village."

"You lie," Naruto said starting forward.

"Wait; let's hear what he has to say Naruto."

"It's a waste of time Sakura," he snapped back

"Quiet, Naruto. If he's lying," Sasuke left his sentence unfinished, his meaning clear.

Sasori nodded, "The entire Ame Kusa conflict is a sham. Its sole purpose is to draw some of your forces to the north. Even before that conflict started Iwa had been amassing forces within the Rain country. In four days time they will pour across the border to attack and destroy your village."

"And why do you know this?" Sakura asked.

"Because," Sasori said, "the Akatsuki organization has been manipulating everyone from behind the scenes."

"And you're just betraying them now," Naruto spat sarcastically. Right now he just wanted to smash the man to pieces.

"No," Sasori said seemingly amused. "It was always our intention to betray Iwa. They're putting both of their Jinchuriki into the upcoming battle. We assumed that the battle would take place near your village, but now you might be able to choose the battlefield. By the way your brother will be there." He addressed his last comment to Sasuke who visibly tensed.

"All right, get out of here." Sakura said relaxing her posture.

Sasori started to turn slowly to withdraw when Sasuke darted forward. His sword was infused with chakra and it sliced the puppet neatly in two, from right shoulder to left hip. Naruto smiled at Sasuke who sheathed his sword and said, "I never said, I was going to let him go."

* * *

What they were to do with Sasori's information was something Naruto didn't want to discuss. They had to report it even if the information was dubious at best. The trouble was how to go about it. It would take at the very least a day to reach Konoha which would only give three days to prepare for an attack. If they continued with the current mission it would give the village less time to prepare, but they couldn't abandoned it now. In the end, they settled on Matsuri carrying the message back to Konoha over her protest. That meant their number was down to four when they arrived at the Akatsuki hideout.

"We have a problem," Sasuke said staring up at the paper seal.

"What?" Naruto snapped, becoming irritated at all the delays. It wasn't helping that his skin felt like it was burning from the poison. Sakura had said the poison was working its way out of his body naturally, but, it still hurt.

"This seal," Sasuke pointed towards the piece of paper, "has four supporting seals. All five have to be removed, at the same time."

"Where are they?" Naruto said interrupting his explanation.

"They can't be too far, maybe a mile from here."

Naruto smiled, and summoning his chakra created, three dozen clones. That actually left him feeling drained. He wondered if that was the poisons work more than the battle earlier. The clones broke into groups of two and quickly disappeared searching for the tags. It took several minutes for his doppelgangers to find them all, but whenever a pair found a paper seal one would destroy itself to report back to him.

Once all four of the other seals were found they prepared for entrance.

He produced one more clone to remove the fifth seal on the boulder while Sakura would slash through it. Temari intended to launch a wind attack right into the entrance as soon as Sakura was clear. Sasuke would then rush in first to use his Chidori while Naruto prepared another Rasengan.

"Ready?" He called out. Receiving nods from everyone, Naruto shouted, "Go!"

His clones didn't need the shouted order to move in synchronicity, but it helped the others. Sakura smashed the boulder just as they planned, taking out the clone in the process. As soon as she was clear, Temari launched an attack directly into the mouth of the tunnel. Then they were running, and even as Naruto passed through the entrance, he still felt the residual effects of the wind ricocheting around in the chamber. That minor detail hardly registered, though, as his eyes widened at the site before him.

There was a huge statue in the center of the room that had blue chakra flowing into its mouth. In front of the statue were equally large hands. On six of the stone fingers stood a translucent figure, each with a glowing symbol beneath them. It was when he noticed Gaara in the center surrounded in blue chakra.

"Attack the right thumb," Sasuke shouted before jumping on to the hand and slamming his Chidori into the stone finger.

Naruto knew sometimes you just had to trust your teammates, so he followed his example. Jumping on to the stone hand, he slammed his own attack into the rock. Between the two of them, they had cut a good third of the way through the finger and he was just about to hit it again when a voice called out, "Withdraw."

As soon as the voice had spoken, the rock underneath their feet started to shift and descend into the ground. They jumped off and within seconds there was no sign that the statute had ever been there except for Gaara's body.

He ran towards the body, his footsteps echoing in the cavern, but Sakura and Temari both beat him there. Sakura slipped into her med-nin roll as quickly as the statue had disappeared. Kneeling by Gaara's side, light green healing chakra surrounded her hands. She placed them over his chest.

"How is he?" Naruto ventured.

"Give me a minute," Sakura said distractedly.

Sakura took several minutes before she leaned back and wiped her forehead. She was silent for a moment before saying, "I think he'll be okay."

Naruto exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding and smiled over at Temari who had her eyes closed.

"He may not be in any immediate danger," Sakura continued, "but he's going to need bed rest. His chakra system is damaged and I don't know how long or if they can heal itself."

"That's fine," Temari said quietly. "Can we move him?"

"Yeah, but," Sakura paused.

It was Sasuke who finished her question. "Can you take him back with you or should we take him to our village? Ordinarily we would help you take him back, but if our village is about to be attacked we should be there to defend it."

"I understand," she said. "Thank you and the border is not too far from here. I'm confident I can get a message to the village with the bird. They'll send someone. If those other three can restore communication, give us an update on your situation. If it's true they won't be attacking us then we'll be able to support you in some way I'm sure."

They helped her place her brother on her back and she left with only a backward glance and a smile. The three of them stood there for a moment until Sasuke broke the silence.

"We should go."

"Yeah," Naruto responded.

* * *

In a field strewn with still puppets there was sudden movement as a small canister ejected itself from the chest of Sasori's puppet. It landed unerringly in an undamaged puppet and a second later, eyes opened and the puppet, climbed to its feet.

Sasori glanced around the clearing at his puppets, wondering if he should stop to collect them, but discarded the idea. If any of the ninjas came back to this clearing and saw them missing they would know he was still alive and doubtlessly hunt him down. It was painful to leave so many creations behind like a child board with his toys, but he didn't have a choice. In his current state he could not defeat those four. Still, he thought some of them would make good additions to his collection next time they met.


	13. Connections

It is tragic when family fight, but we are all family, so all fights are tragic.

-Last Journal entry of Itachi Uchiha prior to massacre.

* * *

"Hold up," Kado shouted coming to a stop and shrugging his small backpack off. His two teammates who were right behind him came to a stop around him as he pulled out a compass.

"What you're lost already?" Hoshiko quipped.

"I'm just checking. I mean it's a big hill, but if were off by a few degrees now it will be miles later." The moment he finished his sentence he felt a jab in his side.

"I was trying to lighten the mood. I know you're worried about Sasuke don't deny it."

Kado smiled nervously. He was worried about Sasuke, but he worried about him every time he went on a mission, if just a little. Sasuke was, after all, the only real family he ever had and if sometimes he was aloof, a jerk, self absorbed and not the most talkative person, that was just him.

"Ranmaru you take point," he said pointing ahead and ignoring his other teammate.

"Remember our mission is to eliminate whatever is interfering with our communications." Kado said ignoring Hoshiko's comment completely.

"You really want me to hurt you don't you?" She said as they started out again.

From that point on, the three of them traveled in silence. Their destination was a hill, only slightly higher than its surrounding companions. The forest became thicker and if it wasn't for Ranmaru's eyes they would've been more wary of ambush.

Sometimes Kado wondered if they overly relied on Ranmaru's eyes. Being able to see anything in front of you certainly made taking point easy and it didn't seem to drain his chakra at all, but he wondered if the Hyuga found themselves in similar positions on teams. Maybe he should ask Hanabi, but then again, she didn't seem to like him very much.

They traveled for several miles before they took a brief break before continuing. The terrain went from being flat to more hilly and that slowed them. Still, they made good time and when their destination was in sight, Ranmaru gestured for a halt.

"There's a single ninja encamp up ahead." Ranmaru tilted his head and added, "He has two hawks with him."

"Does it look like there were more people in the camp?" Kado asked as he glanced around the forest which had suddenly become a much more hostile place.

"There's got to be more than just one. If they're intercepting the birds someone always has to be awake," Hoshiko said drawing a kunai in preparation.

"I only see one sleeping bag," Ranmaru reported. "It has to be a secondary camp."

"Yeah," Hoshiko and Kado said in unison before looking at the other.

"What do you think, maybe one on top of the hill there and maybe one on the other side?" Kado said gesturing to the West.

Hoshiko shrugged, "It would make sense. The people up there," she gestured towards the hill, "could see the birds coming and then signal one of the camps."

He tried to picture the layout in his head and commented, "If they're like that, we'll have to take all three down at once or risk letting some of them go."

"We can just circle around the hill and scope everything out," Hoshiko suggested.

"Yeah, but that will take a while, but I don't see a way around it." Kado muttered.

"Why are you complaining? I'm the one going to be doing all the work," Ranmaru stated.

* * *

Shinako, a Chunin of Iwagakure, scanned the skies for a small dot on the horizon. Not finding one, she turned around to scan the other horizon. With that done, she deactivated her eyes and went to lie down on an outcropping of rock. The heat that it had absorbed from the sun felt nice against her skin and that was why it had become her favorite resting spot.

This mission was far more exhausting than she thought it would be. Not for the first time, she wished she could take the place of one of her brothers or even her father. Her father's mission was to capture a bridge before the general attack, while one of her brothers was in the Rain country and her oldest brother was sitting comfortably back in Iwa. Personally, she thought she had pulled the hardest mission of them all.

In theory, it was simple. She had been put on a four-man team whose mission was to intercept any messenger birds traveling between Konoha and Suna. As they had a map of the landmarks the birds used, it was easy enough to find a choke point. With no one guarding the landmark, occupying it had not been a challenge. It was only the long shifts that were really challenging.

Because of her eyes, she was given two shifts as watchmen, and after a few days she was both exhausted and bored. Well, at least her shift would be over with soon and she was thinking of sleeping right here on this rock today. It was surprisingly comfortable as long as you had something for your head.

There was a soft beep from the small device on her side. That was her reminder to do the routine check-in. Without opening her eyes, she turned on the radio in her ear and said, "East camp, check in." She waited a minute and then repeated a little more alarmed, "Eastern camp, check-in."

Only silence greeted her and now she sat up and changed the frequencies, "Western camp check-in." Just like at the other camp, there was no reply and she let out a curse. Hopping off the rock, she headed for the camp and her one remaining sleeping teammate.

The three other ninjas on her team had made no effort to warm up to her, not because of her age or her lack of stature, but she suspected because of her eyes and she had responded in kind to their hostility. Still, they were her comrades and she couldn't leave one of them behind.

Entering their camp, she used the sleeping man as a stepping stool, both jumping over the fire pit and waking the other ninja at the same time. As the man sat up, she snapped, "We're pulling out. Get up or get left behind."

"What's going on?" The man said both irritated and groggily.

"Neither of the camps has responded to my hails," she said swinging her pack onto her back. "They've been taken out."

"You think so?" The man said sounding worried as he started to climb to his feet. "Couldn't the radio be malfunctioning?"

Shinako would've rolled her eyes if she wasn't in such a hurry. Instead, she settled for saying, "Yeah, maybe the radio is malfunctioning or perhaps somebody finally caught on to the fact that their messages are not getting through. Which seems more likely?"

Actually, she thought they should've pulled out yesterday. Intercepting birds was easy, but that didn't stop messengers traveling on foot. Once one of those messages got through, it was pretty simple to figure out what was going on. Personally, she didn't think the Tsuchikage had even intended for them to hold this long, although they had not received any orders to when they should pull out.

If he had truly wanted them to stand and fight, he would've at least doubled the size of the team that had been dispatched. All four of them had been reaching their burnout point. Each of the two sub camps had been manned by one man and they had to be on guard around the clock. The only one of them that had been remotely rested was the sluggish idiot across from her. "Hurry up," she said again.

The man must've finally woken up completely as he grabbed his own pack and stood up. To his credit, though, he didn't bother trying to pick up his sleeping bag, knowing it would take too long. They both started to hurry along the preapproved exit route. It wasn't the easiest path down the mountain, but it wasn't the hardest either.

She kept her eyes activated, hoping to spot the enemy before they could ambush them, but even with her eyes, when the fog appeared, it came as a complete surprise. A shiver went up her spine that was not completely due to the cold air that now surrounded her. She turned to locate her teammate who had been lagging behind her and saw two things.

First, she saw her teammate, but about twenty feet behind him she saw another person even shorter than herself. Opening her mouth to shout a warning, she saw the other ninja throw a kunai straight and true. It would not have been an impressive throw, if it wasn't for the fog, but as her teammate crumbled to the ground pierced through his heart with a kunai, she felt a brief moment of panic.

Mist techniques facilitated quick kills, but they were supposed to be done close in, not at a distance. That meant her opponent had to be a Hyuga, although, from what she understood, they rarely used weapons. Well, no matter, she could counter them easily enough.

Before she released her counter to that clan's Kekkai Genkai, she noticed that there was already flickering particles in the air. For a second, she was distracted and it nearly cost her life. A kunai was thrown at her and it was more instinct than thought which made her bring up her own weapon. Metal collided with metal and the weapon was deflected to her side, just barely missing her face.

Not waiting for a follow-up attack, she dove into the trees, making sure to always keep a tree trunk between her and her attacker. Now that she had more time to observe her attacker, she noticed that he had the same color hair as her minus the highlights. He also turned to follow her movements even as she slowly circled around him, not caring when she took the high ground or gave it back. Those two facts were setting off alarm bells in her mind. There was a part of her mind that had reached a conclusion, but she refused to accept it.

Still, as she circled around him, he turned to watch her. His movements were minimal, as if he could tell she wasn't going to attack him. Hyuga didn't need to turn their heads to follow their enemies. Her father had seen to it that she knew about other clans and their unique features. However, she was coming up blank of what this boy might be using. Well, that wasn't really true, she had a suspicion, but didn't want to acknowledge the possibility.

This boy was not from Kiri, that was clear from the Konoha symbol he wore proudly on his forehead. Still, as he didn't try to do anything she wondered if the same thought was occurring to him. Having done a complete three hundred and sixty circle around the boy in the mist, she could no longer deny what she saw.

Stepping behind trees just in case, she prepared to jump away as she inhaled a deep breath and shouted, "Brother, I suspect this mist hinders neither of us. Why not dispel it so we may get a closer look at each other?" There was a long moment of silence, but she had just given away her location and he was doing nothing, so he must be thinking.

"I have no family. I am an orphan."

"That may be true, but perhaps our blood is the same. Family should not fight at least before we talk." She raised her hands and tried to relax her posture. There was no response from the other ninja, so she added. "You suspect it's true or else you would've attacked by now."

Almost as fast as the mist had appeared, it lifted. Still wary, she stepped out from behind the tree. Their eyes met and she quickly deactivated her eyes before activating them again, causing them to flash a crimson red. After second of hesitation, the other boy copied her and an unexpected surge of anger came over her.

"Why do you have the Gurengan?"

The other ninja cocked his head, not seemingly bothered by her tone. "Is that what it is called?"

"Yes," she spat. "Why do you have it?"

The boy smiled and his imperturbable nature seemed to have a calming effect on her. "You're from Konoha, but my clan has never lived there." Her father had told her the kekkei genkai they shared had been created in the laboratory using techniques of a forbidden nature. He had never gone into much more detail with the exception if a Kiri ninja ever saw her eyes it should be the last thing they saw.

"I was born in the Land of Water an orphan. I was brought to Konohagakure by friends."

Shinako frowned. Her Hitai-ate showed the symbol of Iwa and he named the land her father was a native of. In her mind there was no doubt.

"That is where my father was born. It seems we are family." For a brief moment, she wondered if her father had an affair, but she pushed that thought aside and cursed her inability to read any emotion from her newly found family member.

"What now?" He said abruptly.

She didn't really know what to say to that. Really, they just shared the same blood and that alone didn't really make them family, but could this meeting really be by random chance? "I don't know."

Apparently, neither did he, as he just stood there staring at her. After a moment, Shinako realized that she was trying to burn the other boy's features into her mind and she wondered if he was doing the same as her.

"My friends are coming."

Those four words shattered their private world and she suddenly remembered where she was. Absentmindedly, she did notice that he had said friends instead of teammates. "You're letting me go?" She asked.

"Go," the other ninja said his tone devoid of any emotion.

She turned, confident that this wasn't a trick, but stopped before saying over shoulder, "What's your name?"

"Ranmaru."

She nodded, thinking it sounded like a good name. "Mine is Shinako."

With that said, she started to run, her eyes activated, not wanting to run into any of Ranmaru's friends. She had to tell her father about this. He would either be interested in this or at least have some explaining to do.

* * *

Authors note: I owe a big thank you to Daughter of ether for helping me find out Gurengan (crimson eye).


	14. Remnants of a God

With hindsight, historians can sometimes see reasons for actions that those making them were not fully aware of. However, it would be folly to believe that our site is perfect. There will always be reasons we cannot understand. Sometimes even the person making the decision cannot understand their reasoning. If anything can be said about the decision-making process, though, it is that only fools believe there's one reason for any action.

-Excerpt from the preamble to the History of the Fourth Great War by Kei Hyuga

* * *

Musashi was perched in a tree just over the swamp. He had been following the remaining Rain ninja who had surreptitiously slipped away from the previous battlefield. As his target came to the surface and started to climb out of the water he noticed it was the older ninja who had survived the battle.

As soon as the man placed two feet on dry ground Musashi pounced. Crashing against the other ninja, he slammed him into a tree before grabbing his right arm, twisting it around and pinning the other ninja's left against the tree with his body weight. With his remaining free hand, he pressed a kunai against the man's neck.

"Why shouldn't I kill you?" He hissed into the man's ear.

"Because we are allies," the man said through his gritted teeth.

Musashi's lacked any humor as he said, "Now you see," he twisted the man's arm further, "I have a hard time believing that. It was people from your village who killed my teammate back there and that's one of those things I take personally."

"Exactly, if I was in league with them, why wouldn't I have stayed behind with them instead of sneaking off like I did?"

Musashi would concede that the man had a point, but he didn't loosen his grip. "Then who were they?"

"Rebels," the man spat out. "Didn't you see their Hitai-ate? They had slashes right across the symbol for my village. What respectable ninja would do that? What ninja would not replace it immediately?"

He tried to remember back to the battle earlier and he could remember seeing that damage when he had looked to see what village the attackers belonged to. He supposed rebels might deface their Hitai-ate like that as more of a condemnation of their village's leadership more than the village itself, but still it seemed an extreme measure. However, even if this man was telling the truth, this was all news to him. "What rebels?" He asked not loosening his grip a bit.

The man grunted and then pleaded, "Please ease your grip a little. I'll tell you what I know." Musashi slackened his grip, but only a little, allowing the man to reposition his arm.

"They are our shame," the man began taking in a deep breath. "About fifteen years ago, only a few years after the last Great War, there was this group, traveling around promoting peace or at least that's what they said. They claimed no allegiance to any village or country. Well what happened next is what you would expect to happen.

Musashi nodded even though the other man couldn't see him. Hidden villages have not always been the sole power of countries. Before ninjas the samurai had ruled and then religious sects had battled with the ninjas for dominance. His home village of Kiri had only recently put down the last of those sects. No wonder this group had been greeted with so much suspicion. He had known about the Civil War, of course, as he had had a part in ending it, but his question wasn't being answered. "I know about the war, but Hanzou doesn't strike me as the type of man to leave loose ends. If there's a rebel settlement in the open, why isn't it wiped out?"

"We can't. There's some sort of barrier surrounding what's left of their village. We can't get in, but they can get out. There used to be patrols around the barrier to prevent them from leaving, but with this war those forces had to be redeployed. They number less than twenty. It's not like they're a real threat."

When Musashi had met Hanzou, he hadn't struck him as the type of man who would leave things unresolved, but then the future Amekage would not have held up the plan in fear of looking weak either. Slowly, he started to ease back on the Rain ninja. "How big is this barrier?"

The other man turned around, slowly rubbing his shoulder. "A little less than six miles in circumference, but that encloses the entire settlement, which is pretty convoluted."

Damn it, if those four ninja were in there they could emerge at any point and slip past him since there was no way he could watch the perimeter by himself. It was frustrating but after a minute of thought he realized that there was no way they could reach Konoha before the general attack began, so in that aspect there was no need to hunt them down anymore. Except that it was frustrating to be so close and not be able to finish the job. Right now, though, they were more of a professional insult than a tactical threat. "All right, we're going to go report this situation to Hanzou and the Tsuchikage."

* * *

Neji Hyuga drifted back to consciousness. It was not completely a novel experience for him. He had been unconscious before, but it had been many years since then. It was a lot like waking up, only a great deal more painful. As his eyes opened he felt a dull ache in his shoulder and a pain in his head. With his good arm, he reached up to examine his shoulder.

He felt medical gauze which meant it had been treated. Between that fact and the fact he was lying in a bed in a dimly lit room, he concluded that he must be in a hospital. Then he remembered the last thing he saw, several Rain ninjas standing around him. Was he captured then? Why wouldn't they restrain him and more importantly where were his Genin?"

As he sat up, the bed groaned underneath him. At the far end of the room sat a man with his back to him at a desk. He seemed to be writing with the aid of only one small lamp which was providing the illumination for the room. The man turned at the sound of his movement and stood once he saw he was conscious.

"Lay back down," the man ordered as he rose.

Neji did so, but more because he couldn't quite summon the energy to swing his legs off the bed more than out of a desire to be compliant. As the man came to stand over him, he noticed the Hitai-ate with the Amegakure symbol upon it. Strangely though, it seemed to have a very deliberate slash right across it. He found that unsettling, but then the man was shining a light in his eyes and he winced away from it.

"They say you hit your head against a tree when you collapsed," the man offered in way of explanation for his actions. After a moment he clicked off the light and stated, "But you look fine."

"Where's my team," Neji demanded.

"You're Genin? They're in the next room. I had them in here for a while, but they're a loud bunch. I will get them in a minute."

Neji resisted the urge to smile at that. He still wasn't quite sure what his status was. Was he a prisoner or something else? To his surprise, he was almost afraid to ask as if inquiring about his status would somehow change it. Then he remembered the gouge on the man's Hitai-ate. For some reason he found such disrespect disconcerting.

The medical-Nin walked away and he heard water running for a moment before the man returned with a glass in hand. "Take this." The man said holding a soldier pill. When he hesitated, the man added, "I'm not going to poison an honored guest."

_Guest_ Neji thought. "So, we can leave?" He asked before swallowing the pill.

"After you meet with our leader," the man responded as he turned around. "I'm going to send your team in now."

He nodded as he felt the pill working. It was like a shot of adrenaline that numbed the pain. After a second, he wondered who this leader was. Hanzou was the leader of Ame, but he doubted that would be the man he would be meeting. Of course, why exactly this leader would want to meet with him was an open question. Well, he would agree with whatever it took to get him out of here as long as his team went with him. Though, he had the disturbing thought that they might be kept here as hostages and then ransom back to their village. That happened on occasion.

Then he heard the door open and a cry of, "Sensei."

Propping himself up, he smiled as Akako and Yuudai came to the side of his bed. "Report," he commanded looking between the two of them. He saw Jiro still standing in the doorway, dressed in new clothes, but looking uncertain.

The other two straightened and Yuudai began. "We were watching you fight when a ninja appeared right behind us."

"You screamed," Akako interjected.

"I did not."

"Yes you did."

"Continue." Neji said heading them off before they digressed any further.

"Well," Akako continued, "before we could do anything, he said 'they were here to help' and that's when the other ninjas took out the one you were fighting. When you passed out they picked you and Jiro up and carried you back here after."

"What about the other ninja I was fighting?"

"We didn't see what happened to him," Yuudai answered. "Well, they brought us back here which is an abandoned village that's pretty big. They've more or less given us free reign and I don't think there's that many of these guys here. We counted fifteen ninjas in all, but there might be a few more we just didn't see."

"Good job."He was pleasantly surprised that they had the forethought to notice such things. Their report put his mind at ease and it made him feel a little easier about meeting this leader. With this in mind he glanced over at Jiro who had not moved from his position at the door. "Could you two give Jiro and me a moment alone?"

"Hu, why?" Yuudai questioned.

"Come on you," Akako said grabbing his arm and pulling him away. "We'll just be outside sensei," she said right before she pulled Yuudai through the doorway.

Jiro slid out of the doorway, allowing the door to close, but didn't come any closer. The Jonin sat up, which was a lot easier this time and swung his legs over the side of the bed. His old clothes were gone, replaced with some sort of one piece clothing which he remembered the medic wearing. He shrugged that off and gestured for his student to come closer. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Jiro said not moving and looking down. With the oversized shirt he was wearing, he looked even smaller than usual.

This was one of the few things of being a sensei he didn't like. Dealing with emotional baggage was something he should have a lot of experience with, but his troubles growing up never seemed to translate. His arrogance and sense of unchanging destiny had been beaten out of him both by Naruto and eventually the truth regarding his father's death. However, he doubted that was what was bothering Jiro, and although he would normally let his students work through their problems, now was not the time. "You didn't say anything during your teammates report and you're not meeting my eyes so out with it."

His student remained silent and Neji sighed in frustration. Then he remembered the last few minutes of the battle and he guessed that what was bothering Jiro. "I wasn't going to allow him to hurt you. I was just making him think I would allow-"

"I know sensei."

"Listen, I'm sorry, but I need to know what's bothering you. This is not a time you should be distracted."

The small brunette shifted nervously and said, "I've been thinking that I should stop trying to be a ninja."

"Oh, why?" This was a bit unexpected.

"Because I'm not very good at it. I wasn't just useless during that fight, but I almost got everyone captured. The team would be better off without me."

Neji nodded understanding what his student was saying. "Jiro listen, you handled the situation as best as you could."

"Sensei, don't say that," Jiro sighed. "It doesn't matter how well I handled the situation. I nearly got everyone captured."

"Well that's true I guess." The young Genin winced at his words and he took that as a good sign. "You're not a natural genius. Not everything comes easy to you like it does for some others, but that could be said about both of your teammates too. In that regard you are the exact opposite of what I was at your age. I was at the top of my class at the Academy and I was even able to take on both of my teammates at once in a spar and neither of them were pushovers."

"Now, let me tell you of another ninja I know. He was the worst at the Academy and a year behind me. Now, when I say he was the worst I mean that in every sense of the word. He didn't even graduate the first time around. Still, he worked hard and pushed his limits. We ended up facing off against each other in the first round of the final exams and he kicked my ass."

The crude word made Jiro look up at him his mouth agape as he said, "What?"

Well, at least he knew he had his student's full attention. "Every time I thought I had defeated him, he got back up and in the end like I said, he kicked my ass. I mean I was carried out of the arena and he did a victory lap."

"What happened was, I had complete confidence in my skills. Now it's good to be confident in your abilities, but not so much so that you believe you're infallible. That's a hard lesson to learn and I guess I even have trouble with that today. That battle we were just in showed me that I have been overly relying on my Byakugan. Do you know what you have in common with the ninja who defeated me?"

"No."

Neji allowed himself a slight smile. "Both of you know you're not the best. Both of you know you have limits. Most importantly of all, though, is both of you know that you can push past those limits." He let his words sink in for a minute and then added, "I think you have the potential to be a great ninja and I will do everything I can to help bring that out in you. However, if you want to quit, that is your right. But I would like to point out, that I would much prefer to have a ninja at my back that knows his limits, then one like me."

Jiro was silent for a long minute before he looked up and said, "You really think so?"

"Have you known me to lie?" The kid laughed, a short harsh one, but still a laugh. "Don't make a decision now, but try to put off thinking about it until we get back home."

"All right sensei. I will."

"Good. Why don't you send the other two back in?"

"Okay."

Jiro went to the door and let the other two back in. They passed the time discussing what the abandoned village looked like. His team painted a strange picture of large stainless steel metal buildings that stretched impossibly high into the sky. Some were half collapsed, while others were burnt out and still, others seemed to still stand as silent sentinels. Rubble and craters strewed the streets. Neji really couldn't imagine such a place as it seemed so alien that he didn't have a point of reference.

Akako was describing how most of the bridges looked as if they had collapsed into the river when the medic-nin quietly slipped back into the room. He watched them for a moment before he spoke up. "You seem well enough to meet with our leader. Please follow me. Someone else will come and give your Genin some supplies for your trip."

Neji nodded and rose before asking the man, "How long will this meeting be?"

"I was not told. Now please follow me." Without waiting for a response, the other man turned around and left the room.

Annoyed at the rudeness, but not seeing any other recourse, he followed, figuring it was better not to give any orders to his team before he left. The two of them walked down the long dimly lit hallway before going down a staircase. Although he was tempted to activate his Byakugan, he resisted the urge.

At the bottom of the stairs was a steel door, at that, the man knocked on loudly before turning to him and saying, "Go inside. When you're done go out the same door you came in. I will wait here."

That was almost enough for him to raise an eyebrow, but he supposed that if this man had desired to go against Hanzou he would have to be strong. More curious than nervous now, he opened the door and stepped inside.

Whatever he had been expecting it wasn't what he found. The room was large, but it was predominantly empty. In fact, the only thing in the room seemed to be a single hospital bed with someone in it. With no other options, he started walking towards the bed. The figure in the bed turned out to be an emaciated man. His cheeks were sunken and his collarbone jetted out. He seemed near death, but his strangely colored eyes were fixated on him and showed no sign of weakness.

"Not what you were expecting am I?"

"No," Neji answered seeing no reason to lie.

"I was a God or at least, so I thought. I dared to stand up to this corrupt world and was cut down."

"I see," he attempted to keep his tone respectful, but that was hard as he was beginning to suspect this man was insane.

"You don't recognize my eyes do you?" The man said harshly before shaking his head. "No matter, I'm a failure."

He didn't know what to say to that, so he ignored the comment. "You're men saved my team, thank you for that."

The man turned his head slightly. "It was not an act of peer generosity. I have a message for you to take back to your village."

Neji nodded solemnly.

"The supposed conflict between Rain and Grass country is a mere distraction. In a few days, a force of Iwa ninjas supported by Ame ninjas, will cross the border and head straight for Konohagakure. Their orders are to leave nothing but scorched earth."

He felt himself break into a cold sweat at those words. Certainly his village had been attacked before, but to be told about it in advance like this was chilling. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He closed his eyes and tried again, "And how do you know this?"

The other man's expression didn't change but the next words he spoke were bitter. "I was on the precipice of taking control of this country's military from Hanzou, when Iwa interfered. I wish to stop their plan. Your arrival was advantageous."

Through his concern, Neji saw a flaw in what the man was saying and it made him suspicious. "If you knew of this why did you not send one of your men to Konoha?"

"I only recently ripped this information from the head of the man you were battling earlier and no, he did not know the exact details of the attack." The bed ridden man waited for him to nod before continuing, "If your village manages to fend off this attack, there is a flaw in their plan you may be able to exploit. That flaw is that Hanzou has overestimated his forces. He believes they're battled harden from years of fighting me, but really they are war weary."

"And how do you suggest we exploit that?"

"If you fend off their attack then send a small force here and I will tell you how it is possible to assassinate Hanzou. If he is removed then his forces will collapse. Iwa will be alone. They don't have the ability to maintain a war for long."

"All right, I will pass that information along. However, I will have to leave immediately."

"Agreed," the man said sighing as if he was exhausted, "but you'll never make it over the eastern border now. My men have prepared a small boat you and your team can take down stream into a neighboring country. From there you can reach your home village in about a day. Normally, the river would be guarded, but I've already sent men to clear your way."

"Then I shall go immediately."

The moment he turned around the man said in a much louder voice than he had spoken thus far, "One more thing."

Neji turned around and looked over his shoulder and said, "Yes?"

"When you send a small force back here, make sure that the great Jiraiya is among them."

"I will pass that along." Without another word, he left the room.


	15. The Lull Before the Storm

It is madness to want to lead. It doesn't matter if you desire to lead a village or a team, you must be crazy to seek such responsibility. To know every decision that you make, even if it is the right one, can mean death to individuals who rely on you is a heavy burden and yet there is no shortage of people willing to accept it. My grandfather, my sensei and even I have accepted this burden. Madness, it must be contagious.

-Excerpt from the private diary of Tsunade the Godaime of Konohagakure

* * *

Naruto glanced over at Sakura and tried to decide if he should ask the question tugging at the back of his mind. They had been traveling hard for most of the day as they tried to rush back to Konoha and he wasn't sure if she was in the best of moods. It was too dark for him to get a really good look at her face, but he decided to risk it. "Hey Sakura I got a question for you."

"Yeah, what is it?"

She turned her head to look at him, but he couldn't read her face and her tone didn't offer any warning signs. "How do medical Jutsu work exactly?"

Sakura was silent for a moment before she said hesitantly, "I'm guessing you're only talking in general terms right?" Even though he couldn't see her clearly, he knew she was raising an eyebrow as she added, "Because it took me years to learn everything I know."

"Just in general," Naruto clarified.

"Well, let's say there isn't any obvious sign of external injury. I would examine the chakra system. I would look to see if there's an area where chakra is not flowing or is not flowing in the normal way. Then I would try to heal it."

"Yeah, but how do you do that?" Naruto interrupted her, and this time he felt her glare, like a spotlight piercing the night.

"Usually I try to redirect some of their chakra to the damaged area to encourage healing. However, if the damage is too extensive I'll use some of my own chakra. Of course, that is field medicine which mostly deals with stabilizing someone until they can get to the hospital. Once at the hospital things become a lot more complicated."

He nodded, and after a moment of thought asked, "Could you use a third person's chakra to do the healing if you didn't have enough?"

Sakura didn't answer at first and when she did it was in a quiet voice. "Yes, but it's discouraged."

"Why?"

"Well, in order to do that you have to first drain the chakra from another person. There are techniques for that and a little doesn't hurt, but it's very easy to take too much. Apparently during the second Great War, prisoners were sometimes used like that." She paused for a second before adding, "Let's just say neither side was very lenient when they would capture a medic. Now, well there isn't a treaty or anything like that, but there is sort of an unspoken agreement that no one does it." Sakura's voice had dropped to nearly a whisper as she related this piece of little known history.

Naruto, for his part, was shocked to hear about this. Up until now, he had always thought of Medical-nin as the good guys no matter what side they were on. Besides Sakura, he knew a few other medical ninjas and he found it hard to believe that any of them would do such a thing. Then he thought of Hinata. She had been a quiet, shy girl, but the few times they had talked she had always been nice to him. When she had died he remembered the rage that had filled him, and, well, maybe he could understand how someone would do such a thing.

"The Gates are up ahead," Sasuke said from his position on point.

Turning his attention forward, he could just barely make out the Gates to Konoha. He frowned for a second when he saw that one of the massive gates was closed while the other was open, but just barely.

"It looks like Matsuri delivered the message. The village looks like its on alert," Sakura said.

"Yeah," Naruto said remembering that there was supposedly an imminent attack on the horizon.

When they arrived at the gates, ANBU materialized out of nowhere, surrounding them. Wordlessly, they were checked to see if they were using Henge before being allowed to enter the village. Before they left, the Capt. of the squad informed them that the Hokage wanted to see them immediately upon their arrival. The three of them headed for the Hokage Residence, which was strangely lit up for it being so late at night.

The familiar building was unusually busy and a Chunin a little older than they were escorted them to Tsunade's office. The young Chunin knocked and announced their arrival through the door and Tsunade told them to enter. The familiar voice made Naruto smile and when he entered the room he said, "Hey, granny we're back."

Tsunade and Shizune were both standing around what looked like an oversized map. Shizune was looking a little more haggard than usual, but she managed a smile at his greeting as she said, "I'm glad to see you are back safely."

"Yes, but what was the outcome of your mission?" Tsunade asked as she looked back down at the map.

Sasuke answered before Naruto could even open his mouth. "We were able to rescue the Kazekage, but he sustained injuries."

Sakura picked up the report from there. "The group that kidnapped the Kazekage was in the process of draining him of his chakra. We managed to interrupt the process, but there was extensive damage. I was able to stabilize him, but it will take months for him to fully heal if at all. Under other circumstances, I would've accompanied him back to his village, but given the nature of the information we received, it seemed I might be needed here more."

"You made the right decision," Tsunade said looking up from the map. "Our situation could be better here. Assuming the information we were given is correct and we have not been able to confirm that yet. We are preparing for the fight for our lives very soon. I sent the Aburame clan to the border in hopes of spotting the advance force, but there's too few of them to do a complete sweep. Unfortunately, the Hyuga and Inuzuka who could normally assist them are far to the north. I've issued a recall order for that whole group, but they may not get here in time."

A yawn escaped Naruto as he listened to her explanation. Then an idea struck him. "What about shadow clones? I mean they're supposed to be used for reconnaissance."

The room fell oddly silent and he had the sudden idea that he had said something stupid, but as he quickly reviewed his suggestion, it seemed sound to him.

"Naruto," Shizune began in a gentle consoling tone, "to use the amount of shadow clones we would need to cover this large of an area would be taxing, if not only in chakra, but then receiving and analyzing the memories. I'm not sure if anyone would be capable of it."

He frowned at her lack of confidence. Okay, he would admit he really hadn't thought it through, but now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure he could do it. Still, Naruto knew if he was going to convince them to let him do this he would have to be careful. "Well, if you only want the location of the enemy I wouldn't need to absorb all of their memories. Maybe just the last hour of their existence and I've done that before. Besides once I would have the information I wouldn't need the other clones anymore so they would just disappear like when I use them in a battle."

Tsunade cocked her head, and after listening carefully to what he had said, she said, "It's worth a try."

"Lady Tsunade what about the distances involved though," Shizune objected.

"The distance shouldn't matter. Still, to be cautious we should make sure he isn't doing anything dangerous when the memories arrive since he won't get any advanced warning. Now that I think about it, we will receive the information instantaneously this way, so we could send one clone to each of the Aburame to act as a relay instead of relying on messenger birds."

"It's too dangerous. We're talking about at least a hundred miles between Naruto and his clones. No one's ever done that before. We don't even know if it will work."

"Yes, but it's worth a try. We don't have a lot of options here and time is not on our side." Tsunade said. She looked back over at him and added, "If Naruto is willing that is?"

"Of course I am. It will be a piece of cake," he answered, crossing his arms and grinning. He turned to Sakura, expecting support, but she looked concerned.

Before Naruto could ask what was wrong, though, Tsunade continued. "All right Naruto here's how we're going to do this."

* * *

Ten hours later, Naruto found himself sitting in a hospital bed. The only other people there with him were Sakura and Shizune and both were staring at him. He shifted uncomfortably under their twin gazes and asked, "Is this really necessary?"

"Sorry Naruto, but as far as we know no one has ever tried to use shadow clones at this distance before. We don't know what could happen," Shizune said with a weak smile.

"Yeah," Sakura added with all seriousness "Your brain could explode or it might not work at all."

He looked over at his girlfriend, whose expression was completely serious. "Are you serious?" He asked for the first time having second thoughts about his plan.

She smiled as she said, "No not really. If something bad happens, it will probably be more along the lines of you passing out or it simply not working at all."

"Well, that's comforting too," he trailed off as he suddenly received a rush of information. Normally, Naruto only received a few minutes of information at any one time, but he had received an hour's worth before, if only by accident, and unlike that time, he was prepared this time. Still, it was a little disorienting and he wasn't sure if it was by the amount or the distance the information had traveled, but he was glad he wasn't standing up.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

He nodded and after a second said, "Yeah. The clone was about fifty-five miles away and I received its memories with no problem."

"All right," Shizune said. "I'll inform Lady Tsunade that it worked. Let's just hope there isn't a limit."

"All right," Naruto said, closing his eyes as she left. A second later, he felt another set of lips pressed against his and he opened his eyes with a smile, "What was that for?"

"No reason really," Sakura said with a shrug. "I'm just glad you're okay. Well that and I can't let you fall asleep."

He smiled and asked, "Are you going to do that the whole time then? The clones are only halfway there after all."

"I've had tougher missions," she said taking a seat on the bed. "Seriously, though, are you tired? You've been up for almost two days now. I mean at least I managed to grab a nap just as you sent out your clones. Maybe I could get you a soldier pill. It will make it easier to stay up."

"I'll be fine." The knowledge that if he fell asleep, all eighty of his clones would pop out of existence, and he would fail his mission was enough to keep him awake, at least for now.

After he had suggested using his clones for reconnaissance they had done some reworking of the current plan. The forces stationed at the most northern part of the Rain border were supposed to do a quick recon of the border and then withdraw. The Aburame clan with their insects would peek over the border at the most likely spot for a crossing while he would cover the rest.

Of course, no one had been quite sure he would receive the clone's memories from such a vast distance, but that was why one was supposed to destroy itself when it had reached the halfway point. It wasn't the most perfect solution, but apparently no one had ever been able to use clones like he could before. That thought made him smile. He liked being the first to do something.

"Naruto, did you hear me?"

Sakura's voice cut into his thoughts of his self-aggrandizement. "What? Sorry I was drifting."

"I was just asking if I could get you anything to read. You know to pass the time."

Thinking for a minute, he shook his head and said, "No. I really don't feel like reviewing any of my old scrolls right now and I really want to talk to either Kakashi or Jiraiya to see what they think I should work on."

She shook her head as she said, "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but you do know you don't have to study all the time. What about a nonfiction book?"

"That's okay. I really don't like reading that stuff."

"Really? You don't read at all?"

He scratched the back of his head nervously, sensing her disapproval. "Not really. I mean history's fine, but the stuff they had us read at the Academy was pretty boring. Then Jiraiya had me read part of his newest book and that was really boring. I mean he spent almost an entire page describing this one character's breasts."

She chuckled and shook her head. "Not all books are like those. You still like Yukie Fujikaze movies right?"

"Well, yeah they're cool."

"Then I think I know a book you might like."

She smiled to herself and he wondered what she was thinking. Still, the idea seemed to make her happy, so he figured he could slug his way through a book if she really wanted him too.

There was a knock at the door and it slid open a little as a familiar lavender head popped itself in. "Can I come in?"

"Hey, Ranmaru come on in," He had not seen the strange boy in a while.

He came into the room without making a sound and frowned at him in the bed. "They said you were in the hospital and Sakura would be with you, but you don't look hurt."

"They're just being overcautious." Naruto said dismissively. "How did the mission go?"

"The mission went okay, but something happened."

"Is someone hurt?" Sakura asked concerned.

"No, we're all okay. It's just one of the enemy had the same eyes as me."

"What?" Both of the older teens exclaimed at the same time.

They looked at each other before Sakura continued, "What happened? Tell me everything."

"Well, after we separated from your group we headed to the closest checkpoint. We discovered that there were three enemy encampments two of which only had one ninja each at them. We split up. Kado and Hoshiko took the two smaller camps while I took the camp on the hill where there were two ninjas."

"I managed to ambush the two of them as they retreated by trapping them both in my mist. I took the first one of them out almost instantaneously, but the second didn't seem to be affected by the mist. I tried an experiment and found that they could see through the fog, but only if they were looking directly at me. She was the first to suggest that we shared the same Kekkai Genkai. We showed each other our eyes and she became angry and demanded to know why I had the," he paused for a second, struggling to remember and said slowly, "Gurengan."

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked.

Ranmaru nodded, but said, "It's weird. I just don't know what I'm feeling."

Sakura stood up and walked over to the lavender haired ninja and hugged him. After a moment, she broke the embrace and guided him over to the hospital bed. "Come on, we'll talk."

Naruto swung his legs off the bed, which allowed Ranmaru to sit next to him while Sakura took the other side. Between him and her, they tried to help their young friend try to figure out what he was feeling as he waited for the reports from his clones.

* * *

Authors note: should I've had a sap warning there in the end?


	16. Raining Rocks

Being brave is nothing more than doing what is asked of you.

-Excerpt from Konohagakure Academy handbook

* * *

Hanabi had come to loathe guard duty. It required her to keep her Byakugan activated for hours and she was left with a headache afterwards. That wasn't supposed to happen, but she had no intention of telling anyone that until they were back in Konoha. This was her first real mission after all, and she didn't want anyone thinking she was weak, especially with so many of her family members around.

On the edge of her vision, she saw someone coming towards her with a dog. From this distance it took her a second to identify the particular chakra pathways as Kiba, which meant that the dog would be Akamaru. Every living creature had distinctive chakra pathways, even if all looked similar at first glance. It was a secret source of pride for her that she could identify several people through their slightly different pathways.

Waiting until he was only a few steps away she said, "Good evening Kiba."

The teen paused for a second before shaking his head and saying, "Did you know it was me or were you just guessing?"

She shrugged, "It's in the nose. Your whole family has a little more chakra going to the nose area than a normal ninja, but you seem to have more than every other members of your clan."

"Really, well I guess that's good to know," He said dismissively. "Here I brought you your pack. The reconnaissance team just got back, so will be pulling out soon."

Taking the pack, she shrugged it on and asked, "Does this mean we are traveling through the night?"

"Yeah," Kiba said coming to stand next to her.

She nodded, glad this would be over soon. This mission had so far been a bust. The Rain ninjas they had come to fight had apparently slipped across the border once they chased the ANBU out and destroyed the bridges. For several days they had sent units across the river to scout the area, but they found no enemies. Her group had always been left behind to guard the base camp and while that annoyed her, she had managed to form a friendship with Kiba.

This was the first time she had managed to form a friendship outside of Ranmaru's group and she was quite proud of herself. At first, they had mostly talked about her sister, but they had moved beyond that now. She did wonder, though, if they would remain friends after this mission. She opened her mouth to ask a question when there was a sudden crack, like thunder.

Unconsciously, she turned her head towards the sound, but her Byakugan lacked sufficient distance so she deactivated it just as Kiba said, "What the hell is that?"

It took her an additional second to spot what he was referring to through the tree branches, but when she did her thoughts echoed his. Jumping into the branches of a nearby tree to get a better look, she frowned not quite sure what to make of it. In the distance, there was a giant stalagmite sticking straight out of the ground. Problem was it hadn't been there a moment ago and they weren't in a cave. It was hard to judge the distance from here, but it looked as if it was as tall as the Hokage monument.

Then she heard a second crack and she turned her head just in time to see another stone pillar rise from the ground a mile from the first. Then came another crack and then another as they disappeared into the distance. "You know what those things are?" She shouted as she glanced down at Kiba for an answer.

"No idea. I've never seen anything like them before," Kiba said as he joined her in the treetops. "Wait here. I'll head back to the camp and see what they want us to-"

He suddenly broke off and Hanabi turned back to the stone pillar and her eyes widened. A huge boulder was flying through the air. She quickly calculated where it was going to land and it was right on the camp that was a hundred feet from her position. Even as she watched, the boulder started to break apart into smaller chunks.

"Run!" An unfamiliar voice shouted from below.

Activating her Byakugan, she turned and did as the voice said. Dropping to the ground and running, she was quickly overtaken by a swarm of adults who had abandoned the camp. The ground shook behind her as rocks, some weighing one hundred pounds and others only a few, hit the ground where their camp had been. Nobody stopped running, though, and she followed their example.

"Here comes another, spread out!"

This time she recognized the voice of her father and even through her terror she felt a momentary sense of relief knowing he was still okay. "Hanabi hop on," Kiba shouted from behind her as he grabbed her and threw her onto the back of Akamaru.

The rocks came into her view at that moment and she realized that they were made up of many small rocks joined together with chakra. As the chakra burned-out, the rocks lost cohesion and then they separated into smaller ones. She noticed all of that in a second as they started to fall onto the group. For a moment, she thought the two of them were safe, but then one of the small rocks collided with the trunk of a tree and ricocheted.

It was on a collision course with Kiba's head, and before she even had realized what she was doing she raised her hand to block it. The rock was still traveling at a good speed as it smashed into her hand. Pain shot down her arm even as her hand smacked against Kiba's head, but it was ten times softer than the rock would've been.

Akamaru continued running and she kept one arm tightly around Kiba's waste as she cradled her wounded one. In the distance, she heard more rocks smashing through the trees, but it sounded very far away, and after a few minutes the dog slowed and then came to a stop.

"Are you okay?" Kiba asked as he hopped off of Akamaru.

"It just hit my hand," she said getting off the dog while cradling her wounded hand.

"Let me see."

Reluctantly, she extended her hand and looked down herself at it. There was no blood, which was good, but most of her hand was red. "I don't think I broke anything. I broke my arm when I was eight and it hurt a lot more than this."

"Can you move your fingers?" She did so and it hurt, but it was bearable. "All right, I'm no medical-nin, but it doesn't look broken. There might be hairline fractures, so try not to use it if you can."

"All right, but we need to head to one of the rendezvous points. Do you have any idea where the closest one is from here?" She asked cradling her arm again. When they had set up camp, they had been given several locations that could be used as a rendezvous point if for whatever reason they had to scatter.

Kiba sniffed the air and pointed, "I think the river is the closest one."

"All right then, what are we waiting for," Hanabi said setting off in the direction he had pointed.

* * *

It took the two ninjas and one dog about twenty minutes to reach their destination. Hanabi spotted the lookout, which was doubtlessly one of her relatives as they were waived forward without Kiba ever seeing the look out. However, the group waiting for them there was disappointingly small. There were only six of them and her father was not among them.

"Little brother you're okay," Hana said breaking away from the group to hug Kiba.

"Thanks," Kiba said blushing and trying to break the embrace. "Where's mom?"

Hana shook her head, "Last time I saw her she Shunshin away with a wounded dog. I haven't seen her since. She probably headed to one of the other rendezvous spots."

"All right, could you take a look at Hanabi's hand? She hurt it blocking a rock that was going to hit my head."

The young Hyuga blinked at her sudden inclusion in the conversation. She had been watching the interaction between brother and sister with something like the curiosity an Aburame showed an insect that they had not seen before. It was strange to see siblings so publicly affectionate with each other.

"Let's see it," Hana demanded.

The young Hyuga held out her hand for the woman to examine. Light green chakra surrounded her hand and Hanabi asked out of curiosity, "Do you know what those stone pillars are?"

Hana nodded, "They're called something like stone fortresses. Apparently, they were developed by Iwo during the last Great War. With one of those things a handful of ninjas can control a pretty large area. They were mostly used to blockade roads and disrupt commerce. They're not much of a danger to a single ninja, but trying to take one out is difficult."

"Why didn't they use those things during the uprising?" Kiba asked. "They could've just kept dropping those big rocks on the bastards."

"Actually, I asked that too," Hana said. "They require a certain underlying geology to work. They also require a lot of chakra which is one of the things they are discussing now. Individually, we could get past those pillars in the middle of the night, but normally only one is used at any one time, but here there were a lot more." The green chakra stopped and she looked up at Hanabi. "You have a hairline fracture in this Metacarpal," she said stroking her little finger between her knuckle and the first joint. "I don't have a splint, but I do have some tape to wrap it for you."

Hanabi nodded and watched as the tape was wrapped around her finger tightly before asking, "What does that mean? With the multiple pillars I mean," she clarified when a confused look was sent her way.

"That's what we've been discussing actually," Kakashi said coming over to their group.

Hanabi turned to face the other ninja and inclined her head respectfully. Her father respected this man and that was enough reason for her to do likewise.

"You see, it normally takes a minimum of at least ten ninjas to summon one stone fortress. However, we know they summoned at least five which would take a very large force. They need to keep at least one person on the rock at all times to keep the chakra flowing or the whole structure will collapse. Which means, at the very minimum there could be forty-five ninjas waiting in between the pillars."

"So you're saying, if we try to go through one at a time, we could find ourselves facing several opponents and if we go through as a group, they might drop a big rock on us," Kiba said interrupting him.

Kakashi nodded "That's pretty much it. However, if they have someone with sufficient chakra reserves they might have been able to summon all of those fortresses with less people. We need to find out which it is."

"How are we going to do that?" Hanabi said even as she started to have a suspicion.

The man single eye curved upwards. "Well, we need to tell Konohagakure about what's happened here. We also need to probe their defenses and there are some overlap on these missions. I'm assuming Akamaru is up to the usual standards of your clan?" Kakashi said directing his question to Kiba.

The teen scoffed, "He's well above them."

"What are you two talking about?" Hanabi said not liking that the conversation was going over her head.

Kiba looked down at her and said, "My clans dogs are trained to carry wounded when necessary. I don't ride him simply because I like to, but its part of his training and he can out run any ninja long-distance carrying the same weight."

"I see. So, you want Kiba and me, to see if we can make it past the pillars?" She said slowly.

"Hey, don't forget Akamaru," Kiba said scratching his dogs head.

"With his speed and your Byakugan you should manage to avoid any contact with the enemy. If it looks like they're planning an ambush you can pull back and if you can continue on you can head back to the village.

"All right then, when do you want us to head out?" Hanabi asked with a slight smile.

* * *

The sun slowly set, turning the sky above the Fire country into a reflection of its namesake as Kiba and Hanabi slowly approached the outer range for the rocks. It was hoped that the light from the setting sun would work in their favor, but that was a hope they didn't put much faith in. Pausing for a second, she said into her radio, "We're in position."

There was a crackle of static before Kakashi's voice came over the radio with a clip tone, "Good luck."

"All right Kiba, let's go," she said pressing her hand against the scroll she had been given with the reconnaissance teams report.

"Hang on tight," Kiba said as Akamaru started running.

With her Byakugan activated, the world was an almost disorientating flash of trees. She leaned back into Kiba who tightened his grip on her. Suddenly, Akamaru jerked to the right and Kiba said into her ear, "A rock is coming in from the left."

From this distance, the rocks only barely made it into her limited field of vision, but the impact they made on the ground was felt even as Akamaru continued running. The second and third rocks were equally unaffected as Kiba saw them early enough and had his dog change course accordingly. With the fourth rock, though, the enemy changed their strategy.

She saw it incoming on the peripheral of her vision, but this time it wasn't falling apart. It stayed as one solid mass as it crashed through the tree branches and hit the ground with enough force to send both her and Kiba flying off of Akamaru.

Crashing to the forest floor, she rolled to disperse the force of the impact. A second later she was climbing back to her feet and called, "Kiba are you all right?"

"Yeah," he called out trying to get to his feet and let out a loud grunt. "Dammit my ankle," He said trying to climb back onto Akamaru. Just then she saw more rocks descending on them. Kiba and his dog were out in the open. Without thinking, she jumped in front of them and went into a spin, blocking several small rocks that would've hit the pair. Her family's techniques weren't really meant to block objects of such weight, but it worked.

"Get on," Kiba shouted when the rocks had stopped falling.

She was turning to get back on Akamaru when there was a massive explosion. When the shock wave hit her it felt like someone had grabbed her heart and for a second she thought she was dead. Then it passed and she was left disoriented with a loud ringing in her ears. A moment later, she felt a hand on her shoulder as she was pulled towards Kiba.

Akamaru wasn't in the best shape, but once she was on him he took off and she looked back at the stone fortress only to see half of it was gone. It looked like a part of it had simply exploded outwards and in the fading light she could see dark figures climbing up the side. She had no idea what was going on, but she had the forethought to make sure that the scroll was still safe as Kiba's faithful companion carried them out of there.

* * *

Authors note: If I update on Thursday I get more reviews , but if I update on Friday I get more hits. It's like asking a parent to choose between their two children.


	17. A Cavalcade of Events

War is not like Shogi or Go or any board game for that matter. If war must be compared anything, it should be compared to poker, only everyone is cheating.

-Strategy to Victory by Shikamaru Nara

* * *

Jiraiya was returning to Konoha when he heard an explosion that he felt was worth investigating. However, even though he was riding a toad it took several minutes to see the source, and when he did he felt the unfamiliar sensation of dread. He had never faced off against a stone fortress before, but Minato had told him about them and to see so many was a sight.

There were five of them on the horizon jutting out of the ground like the predatory jaw of some mammoth creature. After a second, though, he frowned and pulled out his collapsible telescope. He focused on one of the fortresses that didn't look quite right and saw a good portion had been blown off. That must've been the sound he heard, but then he saw something even stranger. There were several small figures fighting on the pillar and some of them were decidedly not human. The creatures were pitch black and larger than a single man. Even as he watched, one of them unleashed a fire Jutsu.

"What the hell," he muttered to himself. Stone fortresses were a defensive Jutsu, which meant the shadow creatures must have attacked after they had been set up. Why would anyone set up so many fortresses in a place of no strategic value? "Hold up," he told the toad.

Biting his thumb, he quickly summoned half-dozen small toads and told them, "Find any ninjas with the Konoha Hitai-ate and tell them to send up a flare so I can find them." The multicolored group of toads nodded and shouted their understanding in six distinctive voices before quickly disappearing in different directions.

He turned his attention back to the battle, trying to figure out what was going on. As he watched through his telescope, part of the rock exploded outwards with a burst of steam ripping one of the dark creatures to pieces. Then Jiraiya realized what was happening, at least in part. The Akatsuki were here, which meant they had to be after a jinchuriki.

He had long since memorized everything they knew about other village's jinchuriki and the steam pointed to the five tales. "Well this is interesting," he said out loud even though the toad was the only one who could hear him. Who should he cheer for in this battle of enemies?

Jiraiya heard the sizzling sound of a flare being shot into the air and he wordlessly nudged the toad to go in that direction. Several jumps landed him in a small clearing with several other Konoha ninjas. Glancing around the group, his eyes came to rest on the only one he knew personally. "Kakashi, what's going on?"

"War," was the single word answer. After a second he elaborated, "Apparently, Amegakure and Iwagakure have joined forces. We sent a reconnaissance team over the border and they were seen. After that," he turned in the direction of the unfolding battle and said, "Well, we're not sure. We sent someone to see if they could slip past their defenses, but that's not them."

Damn, Jiraiya thought. He went to check up on a lead and a war breaks out in his absence. "I see. It seems the Akatsuki are taking advantage of the situation. They're trying to grab one of their targets right now."

"That explains the explosion," Kakashi said calmly.

"All right, given the situation you need to get back to Konohagakure. I'll clear you a path and maybe take out one or two of our cloaked friends while I'm at it."

"It would be appreciated," Kakashi said. "Would you like some help?"

Jiraiya jumped off the back of the toad before landing next to the younger man. "No, I'm not going for the subtle touch. Besides if anything happens to me, I need you to give this to someone in intelligence," he said handing over the scroll of the bank accounts and locations that the Ryo had been sent to. "Is this all of you?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Not sure. We had to scatter and this is only one of the gathering points, but we are not in communication with any of the others. I don't think we lost that many, but we spread out pretty thoroughly."

"All right, I'll make as big of a hole as I can in their defenses. In five minutes be ready to run," Jiraiya said, turning and entering the woods.

Running towards the stone fortresses, he tried to judge the appropriate distance as he re-opened the wound on his thumb. When there was enough blood he summoned another, much larger toad then he had been riding earlier. Seconds later he was merely three hundred feet in the air as he stood on top of Gamaken's head.

"Gamaken shoot a Toad Oil Bullet at that rock," he ordered as the large amphibian shifted his body to spit thick oil from his mouth. Jiraiya combined that Jutsu with his own Fire Release and the pillar was quickly engulfed in flames. Apparently there was no one left alive and it started to crumble back into the ground.

"Do it again, to your right." They repeated the same process, but Gamaken couldn't produce the same amount of oil as he had a moment ago. This time, just the base of the stone fortress was on fire.

"Sorry," Gamaken rumbled from below him.

"That's okay. Just knock it down," Jiraiya ordered, thankful that this toad was more compliant than some others he knows.

The toad covered the distance in a single jump and swung his sasumata against the pillar of rock. The pillar was still higher than Jiraiya was, standing even on Gamaken's head. Just before the weapon struck the rock, a man in a familiar black and red cloak jumped from the top, a strange sickle like weapon preceding him.

Drawing a kunai, Jiraiya was able to easily deflect the weapon. The man, however, pulled back on the weapon along its long cable, and using it as a counterweight changed his trajectory to land right behind him. Jiraiya felt a stab of pain rip through his calf and he looked down to see a metal spike protruding from him covered in his blood as the man cackled in a sadistic pleasure.

Just then the rock exploded, sending it crumbling to the ground. Gamaken reared back from being pelted with fragments of the rock. The two passengers on his head were not prepared for the sudden shift of their ground and both of them were sent tumbling.

Fortunately, for Jiraiya, the spike that was still protruding from his leg caught on Gamaken's clothing, and while it opened his wound further it prevented him from hitting the ground. The toad took a step backwards before settling back onto all fours and said worriedly, "Jiraiya?"

"I'm still alive," he shouted numbing the nerves in his leg.

"Oh, good. I just stepped on someone and I thought it was you."

Despite the situation he had to laugh at his good fortune. "No, you did good. I'm hurt, though, really bad."

"Do you want me to take you to Mount Myoboku? We could heal you there."

Jiraiya looked down at his leg which was bleeding profusely. There was no way he could make it back to Konoha and he wasn't sure if there was a medic talented enough in Kakashi's group of ninjas. "Yeah, that might be best." As he finished the sentence he, along with the toad disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Naruto, or more precisely his clone, peered through the branches of the tree he was sitting in at a village maybe a hundred yards ahead. Well, at least he thought of it as a village even though it looked rundown and everyone he had seen so far was wearing a Hitai-ate. From this distance he couldn't tell what village they were from, but they weren't dressed in what he had come to think of as standard Rain ninja gear.

He crept backwards along the branch and like a squirrel hopped to another branch deciding to circle around to see if he could get a better view of the village. The trees here were a little taller than those he was used to, and their branches were so thick that when he landed on them they didn't even move. They also didn't seem to respect their neighbor's personal space because as the branches grew they interweaved with their neighbors, making it seem like one mammoth tree instead of many.

The clone's mission had been vaguely defined as cross the border and look for any large group of ninja. He was pretty sure he had just found those, but their numbers or even the village they were from was still unknown. Halfway around his circle he found a tree slightly higher than its neighbors and climbed to the top to see if he would be able to obtain a better view of the village. Unfortunately, it wasn't much better, but the village was larger than he thought it was, having at least fifty buildings and he could see the smoke of several cooking fires, but that was it.

This wasn't getting him anywhere, he thought. Fortunately his orders had been so vague he had a little leeway. For a second, he debated with himself before deciding to transform into a squirrel. In his new shape, he scampered along the branches remembering not to head straight for the village, but to take a more wandering path.

Small animals like squirrels and mice tended to be ignored by ninjas unless they were not acting like themselves. The clone remembered one of Naruto's memories when he had been ten and still at the Academy. Naruto had been given a homework assignment that required him to follow some small creature around and observe its behavior. Somehow he had managed to get himself bitten by a squirrel and fall out of a tree nearly simultaneously. Fortunately, that had not happened until the end of his observation, so he knew a little about proper squirrel behavior.

The transformed clone of Naruto jumped to another tree branch before scurrying down the tree trunk and into what had once been a backyard. There was a light on in the nearby house, but there were no entrances that looked like a squirrel could use so he scampered over to the next yard and the next until he found what he wanted. One of the windows to the house was broken and had a large piece missing. More importantly, though, there was a light on in the building and as he scurried up there he could hear voices inside.

"And that's what I know about the outer territories," a man said from the inside, clearly finishing up a long briefing.

"What about the village itself? I mean you've been in there right?" The new voice was younger, maybe in his late teens or early twenties.

"Well, it's been attacked a few times since then, but I doubt that has changed the general layout. The village is surrounded by a wall that backs up into a rock face. Each gate opens up onto a large street that could easily have four carts go down it side by side. Roads branch off from these main streets and some of them are wide and some of them are not. I could never figure out a pattern to them and a lot of them just sort of dead-end or connect to another street unexpectedly."

"Good for ambushes then?" A female voice asked.

"Yeah, I think that's their purpose. I mean I've seen a map of the village, but those little streets are not shown properly. If you come across rooftops or you come around the corner you might find yourself in a very bad spot."

"What about the defenses on the wall itself?" A new female voice said sounding further away than the others.

The voice that had been giving out the information chuckled. "Not quite sure to be honest. They have these little guard houses on top of the wall every twenty-five yards or so, but the roofs they have on them make it too dark to see inside. I am not sure if some of them are just there for show or they're always manned. Though if I had to guess I'd say some of them are always manned, but they switch out which ones are." There was a pause that lasted a minute and then the same voice said, "What no more questions? All right then go to sleep early tonight, we attack Konohagakure tomorrow."

The clone of Naruto had been trying to match the descriptions the man had been giving to any of the originals memories and he thought it sounded like Konohagakure, but the comment about the streets had thrown him. They did twist around, but he didn't think they were that complicated. Then he shook his head in a very un-squirrel like fashion, they had mentioned they were going to attack Konohagakure and that was all he needed to know. Popping his head over the windowsill to get a good look at their Hitai-ate, he dove to the ground and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Back in Konoha, the original Naruto was leaning against the window of a hospital room talking to Sakura. His bed had been temporarily given to Ranmaru who had become unusually emotional once they had started talking about his unknown extended family. Naruto had just decided that he would never understand that kid when he was suddenly hit with a wave of information.

He became a little dizzy and had to grip the windowsill to steady himself, but when he did, he jumped to his feet and shouted, "I got it."

"You found something?" Sakura questioned.

"Yeah, Iwa their forces are gathering in this abandoned village a few miles away from the border in the Rain country." He shook his head, "Never mind that. We got to tell Granny Tsunade now."

"All right, let's go," Sakura said racing him to the door.

In their wake, Ranmaru sat up in bed and blinked at the empty hospital room. After a moment he shrugged and hopped out of bed and slipped on his sandals. When he left the room he had the vague impression that he just missed something important.

* * *

Madara watched the recording Zetsu had given him. It wasn't of Sasuke's battle against Deidara, which he had already watched, but rather the less eventful Sand and Leaf teams catching up with the surviving ANBU. He wasn't too worried about the body that they had taken. They would find little of value and that was more of Sasori's problem than his.

What was annoying him was that the extraction had been interrupted. Such a large group should not have been able to get so close without Zetsu becoming aware of them. As he finished watching the recording he was able to pinpoint which one in that group of eight was responsible. It was kind of amusing in a way.

The three youngest members of the group had seemed out of place to him. Considering they had withdrawn once the fighting had begun, he had immediately concentrated on them. Why had they been there if they were to run away at first contact with the enemy? The answer was obvious, they had fulfilled their purpose. Which only left the question, which one of them had it been?

There was a small part of him that had hoped it was something that the bastard Uchiha had done, but those hopes were quickly dashed. It was the lavender haired boy that Sasuke and the nine tails took to scout ahead. There was something about that hair color which seemed familiar.

One of the troubles of living so long was that minor details from long-ago tended to slip your mind. He sat there for a moment, letting it slowly simmer in his subconscious. When the memory finally came to him, it brought a slight smile to his lips. When he had been the Mizukage, he had allowed some experiments that would not have been fully appreciated on the continent.

Some had produced results, but no true successes. However, he did remember a strange consequence of one particular experiment. In attempting to create a new Dojutsu, they had manipulated the genetics of fetuses and many of those babies that had survived being born had lavender hair. It was an odd detail to remember and within a year all the subjects had died. Well, it looks like they had continued his experiments even without orders. Of course, how one of them ended up in Konoha was beyond him.

Zetsu started to emerge from the ground behind him, which was unusual as he wasn't expecting a report just now. His eyes instead followed his hawk as it circled above him. After a moment he said, "Problem?"

The black half of the plant man spoke up first, "Iwa's Northern force was spotted by a reconnaissance team that crossed the Rain Fire border. The commander of the Iwa forces chose to cross the border while they still had a minimum of surprise."

Damn, Madara thought. His teams were supposed to capture the four and five tales Jinchuriki when they came in conflict with the forces from Konoha. Of course, that was supposed to happen simultaneously. If Iwa learned that they intended to betray them they would call off the attack. That would ruin their plan to capture the four tails, not to mention the two brothers' reunion. "Did Kakuzu and Hidan succeed in capturing the five tails?" He assumed that was what had happened or otherwise Zetsu wouldn't have bothered to report it.

"Kakuzu has temporarily sealed his target. Hidan was destroyed," the black side answered.

Crushed and smeared over twenty yards," the white side of Zetsu added.

"Not even Jashin could save him," the black half finished.

Despite the news, Madara cocked his head in a manner more befitting of his Tobi persona than his real one. "What exactly happened to Hidan?"

"Master Jiraiya showed up as they were capturing their target. Somehow Hidan slipped under the foot of a rather large toad," the white side supplied.

The idea of the immortal religious fanatic meeting his end that way was almost comical. However, "The surviving portions from Iwa, how are they reporting this?"

"They're confused," answered the black side.

The old Uchiha stood and brushed himself off. "To be safe, I think I should pay a visit to the Tsuchikage to cement our alliance." He sensed Zetsu preparing to leave and he asked quickly, "Do you think we'll have to recapture the Jinchuriki for the one tail or was enough chakra extracted?" For a second the only sound was that of the wind rustling through the trees.

"Why ask me?"

With his back turned, Madara could strangely not tell which side had said that for once. "You are the only living creature, ever to see the Ten-Tailed Beast in its full glory. That gives you some authority."

This time the pause was even longer than the last, but it was the black side that spoke up this time. "I was a witness, nothing more."

That was the answer he had been expecting. "Then we shall, just to be safe."


	18. Clash

One day, historians will tear apart every decision I've made. They will have the benefits of time, hindsight and a great deal more information at their disposal then I have. The biggest difference, however, will be their decisions will have no consequences.

- Excerpt from the private diary of Tsunade the Godaime of Konohagakure

* * *

Thirty miles West of Konoha there is a road. If viewed from a map one could see that it starts far to the north, at the very border of the Fire country. It stretches across the country from north to south where it ends at a seaport of some size. An informed viewer might think it odd that, while it comes close to Konoha, it actually bulges outwards to avoid one of the largest villages in the Fire Country.

If this observer was to travel the road itself, they might also notice two additional strange features. First, the road is much wider than it needs to be. It is easily twice as wide as any other road in the country and it has less than a quarter of the traffic of roads half its size. If given any thought, most travelers along the road would write it off as a bureaucratic error or an idiotic make work program during a periodic downturn in the Fire country's economy. Fewer travelers would notice the other peculiar detail. On one side of the road there was dense forest while on the other side was clear-cut fields. No traveler, though, would ever conclude the truth about this particular road, and that was it had all been very deliberately planned.

This was where Tsunade would bet the future of Konoha. Naruto's clones had failed to report any other usable intelligence as had the Aburame clan. It would appear the enemy intended to attack in masse, relying on surprise to overwhelm them. Of course, that meant they would take the shortest and quickest route from where they were. Knowing this, they had decided to fortify a two-mile stretch along the road. It was for circumstances just like this that the road had been designed for by the very first Hokage, but never used in the defense of Konohagakure.

The attacking ninjas from Iwa would have to cross an open field followed by a wide road before reentering the forest and that was where they would be intercepted. Tsunade had ordered that this area be booby-trapped which would hopefully take out a good portion of the leading force. The invading force would either push through the booby-trapped area, where they would then be engaged in battle or would stall resulting in them being bunched up at the edge of the forest. Of the two options, this would be preferable as explosives had been buried under the road. Not knowing exactly where the enemy would emerge from, a two-mile stretch of the road was being prepared.

With most of the village's best scouts still in the north, they had to use the ones they still had sparingly. It had been decided to post them along the road in case the enemy crossed someplace other than where they were expected to. That would be the worst-case scenario, but as long as they knew where they crossed, the defenders should be able to intercept any enemy force before it reached Konoha.

It was no secret that this was an all or nothing move. They couldn't just fight the enemy to a standstill here, but had to completely rout the enemy force if not destroy it. Tsunade had ordered everyone out for this battle, leaving only a skeleton force behind. If they failed here, the citizens of Konoha would be ordered to evacuate, and in truth if she gave that order she had no idea what her next step would be.

The trouble was Iwa could afford to lose this force while Konoha could not afford too. Despite all of that, their plan was simple. It had to be really. Ninjas were used to working alone or in small groups; large groups like this were not common and virtually impossible to train for. Fortunately, unlike the samurai uprising several years ago, both forces were equally uneasy in this type of battle.

Despite the situation, Konoha actually had the upper hand in several respects. They had chosen and prepared the battlefield. They knew retreat wasn't an option and would fight tooth and nail to protect the village. Finally, Tsunade had ordered anything that could be moved from Konoha's hospital to just behind the front lines. It was set far enough back that if the position was overrun there would be no hope anyway. However, if they were able to hold, those resources would mean there would be fewer casualties at the end of the day. At least that was the hope.

* * *

"Konohamaru lower that wire so it's in the shadows more."

The young Sarutobi did as he was told before whispering to his teammate. "If this wasn't the last trap I would have to kill Udon."

"Be nice Konohamaru," Moegi whispered back as she activating the exploding tag that was now connected to the wire. "You know he was always the best with these things."

"Yeah, yeah, but that doesn't mean he has to be so bossy about it," he complained.

"He's not," Moegi said coming to the defense of her teammate. "You're just having trouble taking orders from him, that's all."

Konohamaru shifted uncomfortably at the accusation. "I just don't like taking orders from my friends."

"Come on don't give Udon a hard time."

"I won't. It's just," he trailed off not really sure what was bothering him.

"Guys come on, we have to fall back now we're done here," Udon said as they approached him.

"Where exactly?" Konohamaru asked turning around with his handiwork. He had to give Udon's credit. If he hadn't known where to look he would probably stumble right into the traps.

"We're in the reserves for this area," Udon answered.

Konohamaru put his hands behind his head and mimicked the younger Naruto as he started walking and asked, "Do you know where Kado and his team are stationed? I was kind of hoping we would be together."

Udon sniffed before answering, "Ranmaru's stationed somewhere down south. He's keeping an eye on the road in case they try to cross some other place and the other two are in the general reserves."

"Great," he said. "None of us will be seeing any action today." The general reserves were set further back than they would be. Their function was to plug any holes blown in the line by the enemy. Whereas their job would be to directly support the front lines.

"Konohamaru, we're on the left flank, it would only make sense for them to attack here." Moegi said.

He shrugged, "It's going to be a short battle. Their attack is relying on surprise, once they lose that advantage, they will withdraw."

The trio fell silent for a second before Udon ventured a counterargument. "Well, if this was a small unit I would say yeah, but just because they lost the element of surprise doesn't mean they won't push forward. Right now, we're at our least ready for war. However, every day a war goes on, the aggressor loses their momentum and the defenders gain it." He paused for a second and qualified his statement with, "Usually that is."

"I've got to side with Udon here," Moegi chimed in.

"Yeah, I'm right, but I'm not going to argue with you guys. How about if the battle last for less than ten minutes you'll both treat me to two meals at Ichiraku Ramen Bar and if I'm wrong I'll treat you both to one meal."

"Then I lose either way," Udon complained.

"I'll take your meal," Moegi suggested.

"Then it's a deal," Konohamaru said definitively.

A moment later, the trio came across a trench that they jumped into. With the large numbers of ninjas, it was easy to forget that they were just basically preparing one large ambush. They were on the far end of the trench and Konohamaru could see at least eight other people already in this particular trench. They ignored him and he ignored them as he sat on the ground and said to his teammates, "Free Ramen is always the best you know."

* * *

Naruto sat up and yawned feeling a sense of disorientation. He didn't remember going to sleep. Looking around the room he discovered that it wasn't a room, but a tent and that was when everything started to come back to him. He had been ordered to help set up the makeshift hospital. It had been grunt work where he and several clones had moved equipment around and had helped set up tents. The last thing he remembered, though, was Sakura giving him a glass of water and then nothing. Had she drugged him?

Hearing voices outside of the tent, he became determined to get to the bottom of this. Swinging his legs out of bed he found his footgear waiting for him. Slipping them on, he stormed out of the tent and looked around.

This wasn't the first time Naruto had woken up in a makeshift hospital. During the uprising of samurai several years ago he had woken up in a similar hospital, only that one had been a lot more makeshift. Of course, the terrain dictated a different type of hospital here. Instead of large tents, they had to set up a lot of small tents that only hold four to six people. It was sort of weird, seeing them in a forest like this, but then his eyes fell on Sakura who seemed to be giving orders to two other people.

She saw him and held up a hand up gesturing for one more minute. Stopping a good distance away, Naruto crossed his arms and waited for her to come to him. Sakura dismissed the two ninjas she was talking to and as she approached him she smiled and said, "Did you sleep well?"

Her smile and innocent question deflated most of his self-righteous anger which had been mostly forced to begin with anyway. "Fine, did you drug me?"

"Yes," she answered honestly before adding, "I will apologize to you, if you can honestly tell me that you would have gotten the sleep you needed it, if I hadn't slipped you something."

He wanted to argue with her about that, but this close to a fight he probably wouldn't have been able to sleep even if he had been exhausted. "No, I probably wouldn't have," he admitted reluctantly. "But why couldn't you just give me a soldier pill?"

"Soldier pills increase what you already have. You have been awake for nearly three days Naruto. You were exhausted. I only gave you a heavy dose of melatonin and you practically fell asleep standing up." She reached into a pouch she had at her side and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

Taking it, he unfolded the paper to reveal a small black pill wrapped in the center. He looked up at her confused.

Leaning in close, she gave him a peck on the cheek and added, "Now when you do take a soldier pill, it will be more effective. I am sorry, really sorry for tricking you like that, but I was worried about you."

He felt himself smiling and said, "I don't like being tricked."

"I know and I'll make it up to you, but you really should go meet up with Sasuke. You're both in the reserves in the center."

"What about you? There not keeping our team together?"

Sakura shook her head, "Sorry, they have me as a field medic. I'll be going where the fighting is the most intense, wherever that will be."

Naruto's heart fell at the news. He knew they wouldn't always be together on missions, but this one he had hoped they would be. "All right, stay safe."

"Yeah, I really should be telling you that Naruto."

Grinning he responded with, "I always do."

Naruto turned to leave, trying to make a dramatic exit, but Sakura called out after him. "Naruto, it's the other way."

* * *

Kanaye was a newly promoted Chunin of Iwagakure. He was also in the lead force that was about to destroy Konohagakure. Both of his parents had fought in the previous war with this village, and while neither they nor he held any particular grudge towards it, he recognized the strategic value of destroying it. With Konoha eliminated his village would be able to rise to supremacy on the continent. With that on the horizon, his future looked bright for both him and his yet to be realized family.

Power brought wealth. Wealth brought security. It was a formula as old as man itself. One single horrible day would bring forth ten thousand bright ones. That was his reasoning and if he was more aware of his village's financial situation his beliefs in his actions would only be strengthened.

With that belief and the knowledge of the numbers of ninjas behind him, his spirits were high. If they continued at this pace they would reach Konoha just as the sun would be setting. By then they would've been traveling for most of the day, but that problem would be negated by the fact that they were all going to take soldier pills when they were within ten miles of their target.

Through the trees he could see a clearing with a road at the far end of it. His team emerged from the tree line and crossed the open field with an extra burst of speed. Fortunately, there was no one on the road and in under a minute they had reentered the woods on the other side. His foot snagged a wire and before he realized what he had done, there was an explosion. Kanaye had the dubious honor of being the first official casualty of The Fourth Great Shinobi War.


	19. Brother

History is tedious to study and terrifying to live.

-Anonymous

* * *

Naruto was jogging to the front line when he heard an explosion in the distance. For a second, he paused, seeing smoke rising through the tree tops. There were two or three more explosions in close succession and he cursed his luck, or his girlfriend, he wasn't sure which to blame. The battle had started and he had been sleeping. What type of future Hokage did that.

He put on a burst of speed as his peripheral vision became useless as the trees started to blur around him. He could only see where he was going, and then someone stepped out in front of his path. Naruto was too close to try and go around them so he tried to stop. His feet slid across the ground, digging small trenches in the soft dirt before he fell onto his back. Glaring up at the person he demanded, "Sasuke what was that for?"

His old teammate looked down at him with an enigmatic smile across his lips. "I was asked to see what was taking you so long. Then when I saw you running towards the front line, I had to stop you since you didn't know the plan. After all you do tend to run into situations without thinking."

"Jerk," Naruto said as there was a sudden massive explosion that he could not only hear, but feel through the ground. "What was that?"

Sasuke waited for a second, as if expecting more before saying, "Those were the explosives planted under the road. Come on stop lying around, we might be needed."

Sasuke didn't wait for Naruto to get up and the blonde had to hurry to catch up with the other ninja. He was just about to ask what exactly the plan was when there was yet another loud noise. This time, they both paused, and before he could ask if Sasuke was expecting that sound, his teammate had jumped into a tree for a better view and he followed.

What had caused the noise was obvious. Black flames cut a swath through the forest far to the north. Naruto frowned at the flames. They were taller than the trees and their color was weird. He turned to see what Sasuke thought only to see his friend jump out of the tree and start running. "Sasuke," Naruto shouted before starting after him.

He shouted after his friend again, but he kept pulling ahead of him. Naruto noticed that Sasuke wasn't exactly running towards the flames, but heading north which didn't make any sense. They actually paralleled where the flames were before Sasuke silently turned to the west and started to head towards the flames. They emerged from the tree line and onto a dirt road. He could smell the residue of explosives and he looked to his left to see dozens of craters with bodies and parts of bodies strewn around. In the distance, though, he could see more ninjas crossing the field.

Naruto paused for a second and considered creating some clones and send them down the road, but then he remembered Sasuke's warning about interfering with the plan. Turning back to continue chasing after Sasuke, he realized he had just lost him in the second it had taken him to look down the road.

Then there was a rumble that he felt more than he heard and he turned just in time to see molten rock explode into the air before it rained back down, igniting several trees. Naruto couldn't be sure, but Sasuke had to be running towards someone and that looked like a promising battle.

* * *

"Sasuke."

Itachi almost spoke his name as if he was greeting him at the kitchen table. Not that he expected something else. Still, as he looked at his brother, something seemed off about him. It was subtle, but he seemed more unorganized than usual. Itachi's hair and clothes were both disheveled. It was not from battle, but just from inattentiveness. He had never seen his brother like this. It was unexpected.

Itachi turned slowly, away from his contemplation of the black flames to face him. Blood flowed from his right eye almost as if he was crying. "I see you have not attained the Mangekyo Sharingan and yet you stand in front of me. I told you that I would kill you the next time I saw you if you didn't have it. It seems you are truly useless."

Sasuke had played this scenario out thousands of times in his mind. Sometimes he had wanted it to be a long fight and other times he had wanted it to be quick. Now, though, he just wanted to kill him. It wasn't that he didn't hate Itachi, but it was an old hatred.

Perhaps that was why, without a hint of acknowledgment he threw a shuriken aiming directly for Itachi's throat. Sasuke would have been happy if his vendetta had ended here with his brother's throat destroyed and Itachi gasping for air as the blood left his body. Unfortunately, his brother dodged by stepping behind a tree.

"You're Shadow Step has improved," Itachi said as the ground shook. "Let's give those two some space."

With that said, his brother started to run and he followed. Itachi stayed on the ground and Sasuke took to the trees. He thought it was odd that his brother would allow him the high ground and then he thought of the black flames, half expecting one of them to lash out at him, but his brother was leading him away from the odd flames.

He tried to close the distance between himself and Itachi, throwing a shuriken whenever he thought he had a clear shot. His brother managed to dodge each and every time judging by the sound they made as they cut through the air alone. The next time he threw a shuriken, though, Itachi pivoted and unleashed a fireball.

Caught in mid leap, Sasuke had to grab a flimsy branch to pull himself out of the way of the fire. He hit the ground rolling as Itachi redirected the flame to follow him. Jumping backwards, he pulled two kunai out, one with an exploding note already attached. Throwing the one with the explosive high enough to make it over the fireball, he threw the second kunai at the first to redirect it.

It was only thanks to his eyes that Sasuke was able to tell that the fireball stopped a split second before the explosion went off. It took several seconds for the dust to settle, but even before it did, he could see clearly that his brother was standing calmly well outside of the blast radius. Then, his brother slowly started toward him.

In the back of his mind, he wondered why Itachi had not yet attempted a Genjutsu. He had read up on his brother as best as he could and he had always been especially talented with that form of attack. Even Kakashi, who had eventually caved in and told him about his battle with his brother had stated he was extremely talented with them. Sasuke was prepared for a Genjutsu attack, but his brother had not even tried to attempt one yet and that angered him.

"Stop playing around!"

"You're not worth it," his brother responded calmly.

For a second, he felt his old anger return to him. It was fresh, hot and all-consuming. His hand went to his sword hilt, about to draw it and charge Itachi with all the raw emotion he had the first time he had seen him after the massacre when he felt a hand grab his wrist. Turning, he saw his brother standing next to him, a kunai in his other hand.

He recognized it as a shadow clone a split second before the weapon plunged toward him. Sasuke twisted in towards Itachi's clone, slamming his shoulder against its chest and knocking both of them to the ground. Twisting his hand free of the clone's grip, he tried to draw his sword again, but the original was upon him.

He was pulled off the clone, his left arm twisted around his back his right pinned to his side right next to his weapon pouch. His brother still had a few inches of height on him and lifted him off the ground. The clone climbed to his feet and said, "They may not be perfect, but I still need your eyes."

Those words sent a chill down Sasuke spine, but the familiar feel of his weapon pouch kept him from fully panicking. The clone started to reach toward his face as he reached into his weapon pouch, not wondering why Itachi had made such a simple mistake. Grabbing two exploding tags, he activated both of them before taking a deep breath. Slipping both tags between different fingers, he attached one to the Itachi holding him and then kicked off of him. His left arm snapped as it was forced to go into a direction it wasn't meant to, but he was able to attach the exploding tag to the clones arm.

The original Itachi, who was still holding his arm let go of it as he pulled off his cloak and flung it in Sasuke's direction. The clone with the tag attached to his arm didn't try to move as both tags went off very close to Sasuke.

Itachi was close enough to the blast that there was a persistent ringing in his ears even after the blast faded. He waited for the dust to settle and when it did, he could see only one body lying half in and out of the blast crater, and after a moment of it not moving he started to approach. He had to stop once as his vision became blurry before it faded to nothing, but the blindness was only temporary and with his brother's eyes it would never come again.

He paused above his brother's body, which was lying face down in the dirt for a second, unsure of what he was feeling. Pushing that aside, he rolled the body over with his foot and leaned down to remove the eyes from his brother. Then he felt a pain in his stomach that shot through his body and he had just enough time to look down and see his brother half buried in the ground sticking his sword through his stomach. His last thought was he had been fooled by a clone as electricity shot through his body.

Sasuke barely had enough strength to push his brother's corpse off of him. He knew his left arm was broken and he couldn't hear anything out of his right ear, which had been closest to the blast. Still, he was positive that he had killed his brother and avenged his clan. The pain was a small price to pay for that. His plan with the clone had been a last-minute improvisation and part of him was surprised that it had worked. It required him to pull two Jutsu off in rapid succession, which was not easy with a broken arm, even if it wasn't a bad break.

It took him a second to hear the clapping and another to summon up the energy to turn towards it. The person was leaning against a tree, wearing a cloak like Itachi's and an orange mask. His good arm drifted down to his sword hilt which was still skewering his brother as he tried to summon up enough energy for another battle.

"Relax, I don't want to fight you. I was merely showing my appreciation for Itachi's final performance."

"Performance," Sasuke echoed.

"Well, I suppose performance is a bit of a strong word. It started out that way, but here in the end he was quite mad. You see he never really wanted to kill his family, but he did it out of love for you."

He felt a surge of adrenaline shoot through his body. Pulling his sword free, he pointed it at the man, "Shut up or I'll kill you." His tone was calm and he was already planning his attack plan.

The man paused for a second as if he was analyzing him. Then he said, "It is rare that anything in our world is what it first appears to be. Don't tell me they took that out of the handbook for the Academy, it was one of my favorite sayings. Now, you can continue to believe that your loving brother slaughtered your entire family for whatever reason he told you. Or you could believe that there is more to it than that. However, I assure you he wasn't mad when he did it. It was the guilt that drove him to insanity. Surely you can tell he was not at the peak of his skills. After all, he didn't even attempt a Genjutsu on you, did he?"

The man paused and looked away for a moment as if he was noticing something that Sasuke couldn't. Then, he slowly turned back and removed his mask. "In one month's time you can come to the abandoned Uchiha Stronghold and learn the whole and unadulterated truth."

With that said, the man seemed to vanish, leaving Sasuke to wonder why the man had a Sharingan.

* * *

Naruto heard the sounds of combat before he found the first body, which was quickly followed by the discovery of a second and a third. Then he saw the two combatants. The first man was an Iwa ninja dressed in dark red clothing with bright red hair and a beard. He was currently staring down a tall figure dressed in Akatsuki garb. Naruto recognized him as Kisame Hoshigaki even with his back turned to him.

Before he was aware of what he was doing, a kunai was in his hand and he threw it, aiming for the spot between Kisame's shoulder blades. Unfortunately, Kisame wasn't the strongest of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen for no reason. He simply moved his sword to block the flying projectile and turned his head slightly to see who the intruder was. His opponent tried to seize the moment, unleashing a jutsu that cracked the ground between him and the other ninja, which caused magma to spew forth.

Kisame simply jumped out of the way and landed on a tree branch. He smiled, showing his serrated teeth. "The Four and Nine tails, what an embarrassment of riches. I guess I'll just have to take you both." With that said he flashed through a short series of hand signs and disgorged a river's worth of water.

Naruto jumped into a tree to avoid the wall of water, but after the tree took the initial impact the water started to uproot it. He looked around only to see the water wasn't going anywhere, but instead it was rising rapidly. Having fought Kisame before, he should not have been surprised, after all, last time the man had basically thrown a flash flood at him.

Raising his hand to his mouth, he was about to bite his thumb when he heard someone call out, "Lava Release: Lava Lake."

The ground under the water started to boil as the ground turned to molten rock, turning the water to steam. Then lava shot out of the ground right under the tree where Kisame was still perched. He jumped back, his Akatsuki cloak singed by the molten rock. With all the steam in the air, he quickly disappeared from sight.

"Explain yourself Leaf," a voice called out from below him.

Naruto looked down to see the other ninja standing quietly at the base of the tree scanning the terrain. "You have a demon sealed inside of you right?" The man nodded warily and Naruto continued, " this guy has already tried to capture me twice before."

"What you're saying is he's a mutual enemy because we're both Jinchuriki. All right, how did you defeat him the first two times?"

Naruto hesitated answering, but this was not the time to be self-conscious. "The first time was a few years ago when somebody else drove him back. The second time was a few months ago and me and another teammate basically fought him to a standstill. He has a huge supply of chakra and that sword of his can eat your chakra if you're close enough."

"All right, I've got an idea, but you'll have to buy me some time and try to keep the man in one spot."

Naruto nodded, and raising his voice as he spoke said, "I'll do that as soon as I can find Fish Face."

Unfortunately, the nickname didn't draw Kisame out of hiding. Naruto dropped to the ground which was now rocky and uneven. Advancing into the quickly dispersing steam, he raised his hands, about to create several clones to search for the man when he paused, remembering what he had just told the other ninja. What would be the point of producing clones if that sword would just eat the chakra? He would have to stick to Taijutsu or at least use Ninjutsu sparingly. Then he heard something coming through the air.

Instinctively rolling to his left, he just dodged the sword that would've cut him in two. Kisame used the momentum of his downward thrust to spin around and bring the sword above his head again before bringing it back down. Naruto rolled backwards, his hand slipping into his weapons pouch as the sword hit the ground right in front of his nose.

Pulling out two kunai, he threw one at Kisame's ankle, which caused the missing-nin to step back to avoid the weapon. He sprung forward and tried to stab the man with his other kunai. It didn't work, but Naruto was able to stay close enough to him so that his opponent wouldn't be able to swing his sword around. That was the disadvantage of such a long weapon, but he had also forgotten that Kisame was not a one trick pony. As he dodged to his left again, Kisame swung to the right and caught him with a kick in the stomach that sent him flying a dozen feet straight into a tree trunk. The impact knocked the wind out of him.

As he tried to catch his breath, the shark man lifted his sword over his shoulder and grinned, showing his serrated teeth. "You know, the Four Tales used you as a distraction so he could run away. You really are stupid to trust an enemy like that." He started to approach and added, "Four or Nine I suppose it doesn't really matter which one of you I collect. So if I were you I would start taking this fight seriously. In other words, start drawing on that demon of yours."

Briefly, Naruto wondered if that was true, but then Kisame was at the right angle and he flung the kunai that was still in his hand at his face. The man tilted his head backwards and Naruto sprung forward as he brought his hands together to create three clones. He knocked the man off balance even as he fell to the side. His clones were right behind him and each one of them had a kunai.

Rolling away, Naruto paused to see his first clone stab the other ninja in the stomach. It then popped out of existence along with the kunai allowing room for the second one to stab Kisame. Before the third could make its run, though, the missing-nin was able to swing his sword around and destroyed the clone. The man turned toward him, but before he could take two steps, the ground shook and all around him was a wall of lava.

Naruto looked quickly around him and saw they were completely encircled by the wall that was easily twenty feet high and then it started to move inwards. It moved like a wave of water, the top constantly crashing only to be refreshed by what seemed like an endless supply of molten rock. Trees burst into flames before it and Naruto looked frantically for a way out.

Kisame was encircling himself with a rapidly spinning sphere of water which he couldn't copy and he didn't think digging a hole would help him. Then the obvious solution occurred to him and he started to run toward the wall of lava. Naruto had been holding back on using chakra because he knew that sword would just eat it, but right now he seemed preoccupied.

So, when he created a ramp of clones he was able to run up it with ease, and when he reached the top, he jumped just as the lava hit the first clone. In the air, he looked down and finally seemed to catch a break as it looked as if the rock was cooling rapidly. He hit the newly formed rock which was warm but hard and rolled forward a little, dispersing his excess energy.

Looking back, he saw the circle of lava close and it quickly solidified. For a moment, Naruto waited, expecting something to happen, but there was only silence. Then he saw the Iwa ninja from before climb on top of the new rock to inspect his work. Gnashing his teeth together he shouted, "You could've killed me!"

The man paused and looked over toward him as if he was unaware of him up until that point. "You lived," the man shouted back unconcerned.

Naruto started toward the man, knowing he was going to do something violent, but he paused when he felt a rumbling. Suddenly, a geyser shot straight out of the igneous rock, throwing chunks of it into the air. As pieces of rock started to fall to the ground, the water stopped and he muttered to himself, "No way."

A second later, Kisame climbed out of the hole and said; "Now that is what I'm talking about."

Naruto glanced over at the Iwa ninja and the two of them shared a rare moment of perfect understanding. Kisame was at the center of the circle of rocks and they were almost at a perfect right angle to him. They both knew that this Akatsuki member was the greater threat to both of them, and with a mutual nod to each other they sprung into action.

Naruto threw a kunai quickly followed up by the Iwa ninja. Kisame easily blocked his, but had to move quickly to block the other as Naruto started to run toward him. The two of them fell into a pattern, each throwing kunai so Kisame only had enough time to block one kunai before he had to block the other until Naruto was within striking range.

Kisame swung his sword as Naruto jumped. He twisted around to avoid the sword and his foot connected with Kisame's chest. It wasn't the strongest blow, but as he was still standing close to the hole he had made, it was enough to push him back into it. As the missing-nin fell back down from where he had climbed out, Naruto scurried away as lava shot straight out of the hole like a miniature volcano.

Like last time, the rock quickly solidified, but this time there was no spout of water. They waited in silence for a minute, which stretched into two minutes before they both breathed a collective sigh of relief. Then in the distance, there were three loud bangs, and without a word, the Iwa ninja whose name he had never learned ran in the direction he had come from. Naruto didn't try to stop him, he couldn't after that battle.

* * *

The first sound of battle that reached Konohamaru's ears was an explosion far to the north. Everyone in the trench seemed to duck at the unexpected noise. In his mind's eye, Konohamaru pictured the enemy force like a spearhead and the first explosion had taken place at the tip. If he was right there would be… there were two more explosions so close together they could've almost been one, he smiled in a cold, but satisfied way.

"Udon how come everyone is sure Iwa is not sending scouting units ahead? I mean that's like on page one in the handbook for planning attacks," Moegi asked all of a sudden.

"Well yeah, but this situation is different. From what I understand their attack plan relies on both surprise and speed. They're moving in such large numbers that they hope to overwhelm anyone they come across. If they sent scouts ahead they might be seen and with the loss of surprise, there plan would be basically blown." He shrugged and added, "At least that's what I think."

Konohamaru shook his head. "Udon you are so going to be my Jonin Commander when I'm Hokage."

His friend's response was drowned out as the explosives went off under the road, causing them to cover their ears. Konohamaru couldn't resist seeing the damage those explosives had done and hopped up to poke his head over the trench. "Hey, I thought the explosives were supposed to go off altogether?"

"What? They were," Udon said jumping up next to him and confirming for himself what Konohamaru had just said.

"See?" Konohamaru prompted.

"Yeah, I do." Udon said pulling on his leg to bring him back down. "I'm going to report this so you two stay here."

Konohamaru watched his friend run down the trench before he reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out his little mirror. Raising it above his head, he angled it so he could see over the trench.

"Keep that in the shadows."

"I remember Moegi," he said scanning what he could see of the tree-line from where he was. In the distance, he could hear more explosions, but he could not see anything in his mirror. It was frustrating. He wanted to be where the action was.

Then, as if that thought had conjured him, a ninja seem to appear just at the forest line. Konohamaru just had enough time to think Meisaigakure technique when the man performed another Jutsu he didn't recognize.

The ground undulated in front of the man, the dirt making waves a foot high. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to disrupt the trees, and the tripwires already pulled tight snapped, setting off their explosives. There was now a small corridor which the enemy wasted no time in exploiting as several other Iwa-nin dropped their own Meisaigakure and rushed through the gap.

Konohamaru, like the rest of them, jumped out of the trench to counterattack. In the back of his mind he knew these opponents would be skilled. He knew Meisaigakure was considered A-rank when he looked it up after hearing about it so many times from old war stories, but it wasn't like he didn't know an A-rank moved himself.

The engagement was quick. Weapons flew and ninjas fell on both sides. Despite his age, Konohamaru weighed into the melee just like any other battle hardened Jonin. He heard three sharp cracks, but didn't really register them. All he knew was that the enemy was withdrawing and he was pursuing. Too late, he noticed that he was in the narrow corridor the enemy had made in their line of traps.

A ninja who must been waiting to cover his comrades retreat dropped his Meisaigakure and unleashed a fireball. Konohamaru couldn't jump to either side to avoid the flames for fear of setting off a trap and he couldn't jump back or over which only left him down. He tried to dig himself a hole, but the flames still caught him.

* * *

Authors note: sorry for the delay I've been sick.


	20. Family Ties

As medical-nin our job is to shield the wounded. In theory it should be a simple task, but what do we do when we have to deal with multiple wounded people? We prioritize. However, that is not as simple as it sounds. There will come a time when you will have to choose saving one person while letting another die. I would like to say something to prepare you for that, but there's nothing that can prepare you for that decision. The only advice I can give is keep your decision professional because you have to live with your decision.

-Excerpt from An Introduction to Medicine

* * *

Naruto crashed through the woods, racing to where the Uchiha family feud had finally ended. A few minutes ago he had been perched on the newly formed rock, unsure of what to do. The Iwagakure forces were withdrawing and he wasn't sure if he should pursue or not. He had been torn between going back and reporting to someone or finding Sasuke, who had apparently gone after his brother. Fortunately, with shadow clones he could be in several places at once and he thought he might as well use them. A moment later there was a dozen of him, each having their own mission. One of them was sent back to report in, while the others went looking for Sasuke.

He had to wait several minutes for the first report to reach him and it was from the one he had sent back to the front lines. His orders were simple. Retrieve Sasuke and report back to assist in withdrawing back to Konoha. Apparently, selected units were already monitoring and harassing the enemy as they retreated.

Then, one of his clones found Sasuke. He was hurt, but it looked like he had finally killed his brother. Now he just had to retrace the clone's path. A moment later, he emerged into a small clearing where Sasuke was hunched over the corpse of his brother. His friend looked up at his noisy arrival, his expression unreadable.

"Hey," Naruto said not really sure what he should say. Sasuke didn't say a word and just turned back to what he was doing. Giving him a wide berth, he tried to look over his shoulder. Naruto could recognize the unrolled scroll as one used to seal corpses into, but there were some additional seals. Normally, such scrolls could be unsealed by anyone, but judging by the modifications Sasuke was making; only the person who sealed something into the scroll would be able to unseal it. A moment later Itachi's body disappeared in a puff of smoke as Sasuke rolled up the scroll and stashed it in his flak jacket.

"Did you hurt your arm?"

"Broken," Sasuke said standing, but once he was on his feet he swayed and Naruto was so surprised that he barely caught him. The blonde was rendered speechless as he looked down at his friend who added, "And I think my eardrum's busted."

He almost laughed seeing Sasuke like this, but that probably would've proven to be a deadly mistake. "All right, let's get you to Sakura. The battles over you know."

"Yeah, I assumed as much." Sasuke said as Naruto placed him on his back.

The blonde wondered if his friend was more seriously injured than he was letting on. He didn't know what it was like to achieve a lifelong dream, but Sasuke seemed stunned or distracted, he didn't know which. Back at the Academy, they had received first aid lessons, and being confused was a sign of a concussion, wasn't it? Well, if he wasn't arguing about being carried that was definitely a sign something wasn't right with his friend.

It took him several minutes to reach the front line. Having not retraced his footsteps exactly, Naruto ended up almost running into the line of traps. It took him another few minutes to cross the line with a little shouted help from the other side. Some of the traps were being disarmed while others were simply being set off not having been used. It seemed the enemy had tried to push through in several spots with universally bad results for them.

Unfortunately, that didn't mean Konoha's forces had not taken casualties. The spot he was finally able to cross had been hit pretty hard and he paused to create about thirty clones to help carry the wounded. The few clones that couldn't find anyone to help wandered off down the line. He could see many of them were hurt worse than Sasuke, but field medics were doing what they could to stabilize them and his friend's continued silence was worrying him, so he continued on to the makeshift hospital he had helped set up not that long ago.

He knew where the triage center was and the area was already pretty crowded with ninja sporting injuries of various degrees. He left Sasuke there. Sakura had explained to him earlier that the injured would be sorted by medical need and not their time of arrival. He was about to start back to the front when a familiar, if unexpected voice called his name.

"Naruto."

Turning towards the voice, he forced a smile, but his facade fell as soon as he laid eyes on Moegi. "What's wrong?"

Moegi's face was covered in grime from battle, but she was crying, her tears carving visible paths down her cheeks. "It's Konohamaru, he's hurt really bad. They told me he's not going to make it."

"What?" Naruto said as he suddenly broke out into a cold sweat.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and said, "He was caught in a fireball and he tried to avoid it, but he's burnt and they say they can't treat him. Then I saw you and," she took a deep shuddering breath, "and you should see him."

It was a mistake. That was Naruto's first thought. He knew ninjas died. He had seen friends die and been to others funerals, it happened. However, this was Konohamaru, he couldn't die. He was a snotty nosed kid that always followed him around, wanting to play ninja. They ate Ramen together. They hung out together and trained together. When Naruto had told the boy of the demon inside of him, he had just shrugged it off like it didn't matter, because it didn't matter to him. Konohamaru believed in him unconditionally. "Where is he?"

"Over there," Moegi gestured behind her to a small tent in the distance.

Naruto was relieved by the sight of the tent as they started towards it. They wouldn't put someone who was going to die in a tent. Moegi was just mistaken. He would just pop his head in and see Konohamaru hurt, but fine. This wasn't the first time Konohamaru had been hurt and it wouldn't be the last. When he pushed the tent flap aside, though, he knew something wasn't right.

The inside of the tent was sectioned off into numerous small sections and there were no beds. Instead the patients were lying on simple mats only a few inches off the ground. He knew they had brought cots with them because he had helped set them up. The next thing he noticed was the complete lack of nurses or really any medical professionals. This was not good.

"He's over there," Moegi said in a quiet voice.

He looked over to where she was pointing and recognized his friend. Konohamaru was mostly covered in bandages and his breathing didn't seem right to him. He walked to the foot of the mat, the curtains not allowing him to get any closer. "Where is Udon?" Naruto didn't know why he asked that, but it seemed odd that the three of them were not here together.

"He's covering for me," she said quietly. "Konohamaru was the worst hurt in our area and the field medics did what they could, but when he got here..."

She didn't finish what she was saying and he felt her arms wrap around his waist as she leaned into his side. Unconsciously, one of his arms found it way around her shoulders. After the shock started to wear off, Naruto started to feel angry. He couldn't have done anything to save Hinata or Lee, but he would not stand here and watch his friend die. He pushed Moegi away from him and said, "Wait here, I'm going to get someone."

Naruto didn't have a plan as he left the tent. He just knew he had to do something. He scanned the field and didn't realize he was searching for Sakura until he saw her. She had just walked into the far end of the clearing, and if it wasn't for her distinctive pink hair he probably wouldn't have seen her.

He started to pick his way across the field, careful not to step on anyone or get in anyone's way. "Sakura," he called out as he approached.

She looked up from the wounded ninja whose leg was pretty badly mangled before looking back down and saying, "I'm busy Naruto."

"Konohamaru is hurt."

"Well get to him as soon as we can get to him," she said not looking up.

"Yeah, but no one's paying him any attention and he's hurt really bad."

"What?" She sounded surprised this time as she looked up at him. "Where is he?"

Naruto gestured behind himself at the tent, "In there."

He couldn't be sure, but he thought that Sakura might've paled a little. "Kaiya, Yasuo take this guy back to the tent and start without me, you don't need my help for this one.

As the man was taken away, she pulled him out of the way and said quietly, "Listen Naruto, that tent is for people who don't have a chance. I'm sorry, if he is there, there is nothing we can do."

"No," Naruto said shaking his head. "It has to be a mistake. You can't let someone die without even trying."

"Naruto, sometimes there's just nothing we can do. I'm sorry, I really am."

"Can't you at least take a look at him," Naruto pleaded.

"And what Naruto?" She said glaring at him. "When people come in they're sorted by priority and if they're moved into that tent it means there's no chance or it would take too long to heal them. We can't save one person and let three others die."

If he had been younger, he would've shouted and argued with her. Now, though, he could almost understand. Still it was for Konohamaru. "Please. Just check."

She stared up at him for what seemed like forever and he was sure she would say no, but when she opened her mouth it was to ask a question. "If I check on him, will you accept my professional decision?" Naruto nodded his vision becoming strangely blurry. "All right, I'll have a look at him."

"Thank you."

They quickly crossed the field, Sakura leading the way. When she stepped into the tent she went right to Konohamaru's side, pushing aside the sheet that sectioned him off from the empty mats on either side of him. Familiar green chakra surrounded her hands as she passed them over Konohamaru's body. Unconsciously, he started to chew on his lower lip as he awaited her decision. Having forgotten that Moegi was there, he was startled when her hand slipped into his own and squeezed.

When Sakura's hands stopped, Naruto would've sworn he could hear his heart beating as she stood to look at him, "Listen Naruto, if Konohamaru was the only one injured here, I would just pour a lot of chakra into him and hope he could hold out until he could get more substantial treatment, but that isn't the case here. I'm sorry."

Moegi muffled a cry as the words hit him. They echoed in his head and the first word he could say was, "No. No you have to do something. Can't you give him a little chakra to buy him some time?"

"Naruto, I don't have enough chakra. The amount needed would wipe me out and even then I couldn't be sure it would work."

"Then take mine," Naruto shouted cutting her off. "I have a lot you know that. Take all you need. You said there was a technique that could let you take chakra from one person and put it in another, so do it."

Sakura's expression had been sympathetic until now, but it changed at his suggestion. "If I did that I could kill you Naruto and it still might not be enough to save him."

He took a step forward and grabbed both of her shoulders. "I don't care. I risk my life all the time on missions." He suddenly remembered part of the conversation the two of them had earlier, "Before you said Konohamaru was like my brother and your right, he is. I can't let him die, not like this."He stared into her eyes unwavering and added, "Please do this for me."

She stared back at him for what seemed like a long time, but eventually she broke his gaze. "If I do this, no one can ever know."

For a second, he was confused, but then he heard Moegi's voice say, "If you can't get enough from Naruto use me."

Her eyes shifted back to him and ordered, "Take off your shirt and lay down."

Naruto did as she had said, and once he was laying down he felt her hand on his chest. He could see it start to glow green, but Sakura was directly between him and Konohamaru so he couldn't see what was going on. He glanced over at Moegi, but her eyes were fixed firmly on Konohamaru and her expression was unreadable. So he just laid there not knowing if it was working or not. He started to grow tired and his eyes started to close for long seconds. Then he felt her hand leave his chest and he was about to ask how it was going, but he slipped into sleep.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when Kiba and Hanabi arrived at Konoha still riding Akamaru. By this time, she had figured out why horses had saddles on them. Not that she was going to complain because Akamaru had carried them the entire way much faster than they could've done by themselves. They got off the dog as soon as they emerged from the woods and he seemed grateful for the relief, even as she patted the large white dog on the head.

"The Gates are closed," Kiba commented.

"The sun is not even down," she added glancing at the waning sun.

"Yeah, well we still have to report to the Hokage particularly since we have that message.

Hanabi's hand went to the scroll she still carried as they started to walk towards the Gates. Her hand had rarely left it throughout the whole journey and she wondered briefly what was in it. She tried to put that thought out of her mind knowing she shouldn't wonder about such things.

They could see a guard on top of the gate, but he didn't shout a challenge even as they stopped in front of it. "Hey open up," Kiba shouted up at him.

"I can't," the guard, who sounded like a young boy, shouted back. "I have to wait for a chunin to get here."

"A chunin," Kiba said quietly before raising his voice and asking, "what are you a genin?"

"Yes," the boy shouted back before pausing and adding, "I shouldn't have told you that."

"Why the hell would they have a useless genin on guard duty with no one to oversee him?" Kiba spoke out loud, but quickly added when she glared at him. "Hey, I didn't mean you."

Hanabi smiled at his backtracking even as she wondered why she hadn't been really hurt by his words. Maybe she thought because it was just Kiba.

A new head poked over the wall and shouted down, "Who are you?"

Her companion looked up and shouted back up, "Kiba and Hanabi. Is that you Tenten?"

"Yeah, hold on I'll be down there in a second." She started to climb down the wall using her chakra to good effect. When she landed, she quickly checked them to make sure they weren't using any Transformation Jutsu. Once she confirmed that they were who they said they were, she shouted back up, "Open the gate."

As the gate slowly started to open Hanabi ask, "What's going on?"

Tenten hesitated, but then said, "We learned of an attack on the village and the majority of our force went to intercept them. A few hours ago we got word that they turned back the attack and were returning home, but now there's only a skeleton crew here."

"Shit really? We were attacked too," Kiba supplied. "Is the Hokage here? We have something to give her and we need to tell her about the attack on us."

"Sorry, she left with the rest of the force. One of her advisers is in nominal charge right now, though," Tenten answered.

"Great," Kiba said in a tone that made it clear he felt anything but that.

"Kiba you whine too much." The words left Hanabi's mouth before she realized what she was saying. Turning to her taller friend, she was sure he would be angry with her.

Kiba just looked at her for a second before saying, "I think I've been a bad influence on you."

* * *

Naruto awoke to see a multi-color sky suspended over him. He suffered from a moment of disorientation as he sat up to find himself still on a mat, but no longer in a tent. His body protested the sudden movement as he looked around. He was in a row of four other ninjas, none of whom were conscious, but he couldn't tell if they were sleeping naturally or through some medical means. Looking further afield, he saw a handful of ninjas completing the disassembling of the makeshift hospital. Even with his mind still foggy he knew several hours had passed.

"You're awake," a voice said from behind him.

Twisting around, Naruto saw Moegi standing behind him. "What's going on?"

She stepped closer to him and knelt down, "I stayed behind to help them finish packing everything up. Just about everyone has been evacuated. The only ones left are people suffering from chakra exhaustion."

The mention of chakra made a connection in his mind and he blurted out, "Konohamaru what," he trailed off as Moegi raised a finger to her lips for silence.

"He was one of the first evacuated and they're pretty confident he'll make it."

Naruto closed his eyes as he let out a long breath he hadn't realize he had been holding as relief flooded over him. "That's good."

Then he felt arms wrap around his neck as Moegi gave him a tight hug and said into his ear, "Thank you."

It took him a second to return the hug. He wasn't used to physical affection, even from Sakura yet, but it was nice if a little embarrassing here in an open field. "It's okay, I'm glad you told me." When Moegi pulled back he thought he saw some tears in her eyes, but it was hard to tell as his vision was a little blurry too.

"You know, when I saw you, I knew everything would be okay in some weird way," she said. "If anything can be done, you can do it Naruto."

Her praise made him smile as he said, "Hey, what are friends for."

"Are we friends Naruto? I mean I know you're friends with Konohamaru, but are we?"

"Yes, of course we are," he answered surprised by the question.

She smiled and said, "Good, now I don't feel so bad telling you that now that you're awake, I have to take your mat away from you."


	21. Best Laid Plans

When an opponent successfully counters your move you must counter it, but if you are able to incorporate that move into your own strategy this is best. When successfully done, you will be able to move your enemy into a trap without them even being aware of it.

-Strategy to Victory by Shikamaru Nara

* * *

Musashi wasn't technically a prisoner. Technically, he was now the liaison between Iwagakure and Amegakure. However, his movements were restricted and he was pretty sure any message he sent to the Tsuchikage was being read before being passed along. So technically he wasn't a prisoner but it certainly felt like that even if it was a very nice prison cell. It even had a balcony with a view.

This new Amegakure was built around a small lake or at least partially so. It was still being built and once completed it would doubtlessly be a magnificent village. He wondered if keeping the name the same as the previous village was out of embarrassment, security or simple spite. Probably a combination of the three he mused. After all, losing your village to rebels was bad enough, but not being able to take it back was just shameful.

Having met Hanzo, though, he probably shouldn't underestimate his security consciousness. It would take years for the location of his village to become general knowledge and given the way things were heading that could only be an advantage. His home country had done a similar thing with roads, but Kiri had more sway over that land then most villages had over their host country.

He shook his head knowing he was just trying to distract himself. The force that was supposed to destroy Konoha had been intercepted and turned back. Casualties were high, but the only one he cared about right now was his son who he had yet to hear from. As a ninja, he knew better than anyone else the risks that came with the job. Of course, like every other father, he had convinced himself that nothing bad would happen to _his_ children. It was insane, but fatherhood could make you that way.

There was a knock at the door and he reluctantly rose out of his chair and made his way over to the door wondering what news awaited him. As soon as he started to open the door, though, he found it pushed aside as someone threw their arms around him. Looking down he saw a very familiar head. "Shinako?"

"Dad," she said hugging him tighter.

After a few seconds, he broke the embrace. "What happened? You were supposed to head back home to Iwa when you were done with your mission. Have you been dispatched here?"

"No, I was on my way back and was going through the Rain country when I was stopped by a patrol. They told me about the failed attack and said that Amegakure's leader would have a message to send to the Tsuchikage and I should come with them because they don't want to trust it to a bird. I got the impression I didn't have much of a choice, but then I learned you were here and I had to see you."

"What about the rest of your team?" He asked his daughter as he led her to the balcony. He was pretty sure he wasn't being monitored here at least directly, but it paid to be cautious and the wind should screw with most forms of ease dropping

"They didn't make it," she answered quietly looking away from him.

Following her example, he looked over the balcony at the view of the village. He knew what it was like to be a sole survivor of a team, but at least she hadn't had much time to bond with her team like he had. "What happened?" She was silent for a second and he added, "I'm asking as your father, not you're superior."

"I don't know." Shinako said, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "Dad, we were just tired and spread out. One of the camps missed their check in and I tried to raise the other and I couldn't get them. So, I woke the guy who was supposed to take the next shift and we tried to get out of there. Then we got ambushed, but that's not really the strange thing," she said turning to him.

He waited for a second, but ended up prompting, "And?"

Shinako moved closer to him like when she had been little and wanted to share something she thought was a secret. "The Konoha ninja that I fought against had the same eyes as we do."

"What, are you sure?"Musashi asked.

"Of course, he made the same mist as I can. He had the same colored eyes and had the same colored hair, although it was more like yours than mine."

Musashi's initial reaction was disbelief, but the idea that the program that had created him had been continued after he had left Kiri did not seem impossible. People like him with Kekkei Genkai were becoming unpopular even within the village when he left and he understand that most had either fled or been killed in the end. Still, the woman behind the creation of his Kekkei Genkai had been determined. Not to mention she had always had her own reasons for pursuing such research.

His daughter nudged him with her elbow and prompted, "Well?"

"Well what?"

She sighed at his absentmindedness. "Could he be related to us? I mean, he was a little younger than me, but maybe his father or mother could be like you? You know what I mean."

He thought for a second, but answered, "No on two levels. I know for a fact that there were no other survivors of my generation so he must be a later one. How he ended up in Konoha is probably a story in itself. However, even if we did come from the same experiment we wouldn't be family. Being a member of a family is far more than just genetics."

"I know," Shinako said with a sigh.

He was reminded again that Shinako was the most sensitive one of his children. Doubtlessly, she had already woven some elaborate tale where she would not only meet this Konoha ninja, but somehow befriend him at the least. It wasn't a healthy thing for her to do, but he couldn't bring himself to squash her hopes completely so he changed the subject. "Well, now the attack on Konoha has failed we will probably be forced to intensify the Grass conflict. That's probably the message you will carry back home."

"Yeah," she said not sounding like she was really interested.

Before he had to find something else to say there was a knock and he turned around just in time to see a piece of paper slip under his doorway. Curious, they both walked over to the paper, but Shinako snatched the message up playfully before he could and she read it. Then her face fell and he didn't have to read it.

* * *

Madara Uchiha did one last visual check of the five scrolls that were needed to seal the unconscious body of the Four-Tails jinchuriki. The man had been easy to capture. He had withdrawn like the rest of the Iwagakure force, but had not been able to link up with any units before he was able to intercept him. Having just fought a battle it had been more difficult not to accidentally awaken the beast than actually taking the man down.

Kneeling down, he started channeling chakra into the scroll which started to glow. The glowing then started to spread along the inked lines on the ground that connected two more scrolls on the jinchuriki's right and left side before advancing to a fourth scroll placed near his head. Together, the four scrolls formed a diamond shape around the host before another line started to glow from each one of the surrounding scrolls, connecting at the center. For a second, the illumination grew, but anticlimactically, the body simply disappeared in a cloud of smoke that quickly dissipated.

The glowing subsided, and once it completely vanished, he started to pick up the scrolls, saving the one in the center for last. Bijuu were interesting things. Even when they were sealed inside of a human host, they supposedly couldn't lose consciousness. At some level they were always aware. It was the physical form that trapped them inside and so usually shoving an unconscious body into a scroll was the simplest way to release it.

In the beginning, he had been uncertain how to go about resurrecting the Jubi or even if it had been possible. So, initially he had sought ways to contain conscious chakra. It had not been an easy task, but time had been on his side and with its aid he had solved many mysteries. The answer was simple; all he had to do was create an artificial chakra system to hold the beast at bay. Of course, this had the unfortunate side effect of killing the host.

He started to roll the fifth and final scroll which was the largest one of the five. It was nearly three feet in width and easily weighed fifty pounds. When done, he propped it up and leaned on it as he contemplated the sun as it set over the land of Fire. He allowed his mind to wander into the near future as he played out different scenarios of how current events would come to an end. Despite being distracted, he was able to sense Zetsu's approach a moment before he started to emerge from the ground. "What do you have to report?"

"Iwagakure took about forty percent casualties in the battle. The Tsuchikage has yet to issue any new orders, but doesn't seem to be seeking a peace. All of the Konoha force has successfully withdrawn back to their village and most of the northern units seemed to have also returned home. Their casualties were light. Sunagakure seems to be divided in what to do next. With the Kazekage still recovering there seems to be a power struggle in the village. The other two great powers have so far remained neutral although, Kirigakure has yet to hear of the battle."

Kirigakure would likely remain neutral no matter what happened thought Madara. Well, he just had to keep the fighting going. "What about our involvement?"

There was a moment of silence before the white side answered, "Nothing as far as we have been able to determine."

"Excellent. Have Sasori and Kakuzu move into the Land of Lightning and have them prepare to grab the two tales host, but tell them not to move until I give the order." Turning, he lifted the oversized scroll and tossed it to Zetsu. "Before you do that, though, be sure to store this with the one Kakuzu gave you." He expected to see Zetsu start to descend into the ground, but the half man half plant just stood there. "Is there something else?"

"Given recent events don't you think our plan should be put on hold? There are after all only four of us remaining."

"Five," the other corrected.

"Chiriku is only a medium," the first half countered.

"He should still be counted," the second half argued.

It took a lot to surprise Madara, but that question had succeeded. "The loss of Kisame will be a problem, but it will just increase the length of the sealing process."

"You have also allowed Itachi's body to fall into enemy hands."

Madara nodded, suddenly understanding Zetsu's confusion. "That is a recruiting tool." It was only through experience that he was able to read his companions body language and he could see he would have to explain further. "By law Konoha will examine Itachi's body to harvest any secrets they can from it. However, they are forbidden from studying his eyes which will be removed and destroyed upon its arrival before the autopsy can begin. The head of the Uchiha clan is permitted to observe this process. He is also allowed to observe the entire procedure and if he so chooses to receive reports completely un-redacted before they are classified."

"How will that aid in recruiting?"

"Itachi was driven crazy by guilt. He slaughtered his entire family because he thought that was the best option to avoid more bloodshed. If Sasuke has one iota of curiosity he will want to know more about that incident. As there is no one who knows the truth in advance they will either have to disclose it to him or come up with a quick cover-up. It's better if the latter happens as he will doubtlessly sense it. If the former he will be angry. Either way I'm sure he'll come to me, if for no other reason than to try to discover the truth."

"I see," Zetsu said as he started to descend into the ground.

* * *

"Here's the final status report on the wounded."

"Thank you Sakura," Tsunade said glancing at the list of casualties. Prior to the battle, Konoha had a force of four hundred and thirty-nine active ninjas. Now that number was down to three hundred and seventy-seven. Most of those sixty-two casualties could return to service within a month, but some would take several months and eighteen were dead with three still unaccounted for from the Northern force. With those numbers it was easy to consider the battle a victory, especially since if the village itself had been attacked there would have been collateral damage and scores more injured and killed. Of course, this was just round one.

"If there isn't anything else... " Sakura left her sentence unfinished, as always hesitant to just ask for permission to leave.

"What is the status on the Itachi autopsy?"

"We can't start until Sasuke has recovered a little more. He is the only one who can unseal the scroll." Sakura hesitated for a heartbeat and pointed to one of the stacks of papers on her desk, "I think the report's in that stack."

"Oh, that's right." She said shaking her head at all the paperwork that was accumulating on her desk. Well, when it rains it pours. "All right go." Tsunade grabbed a report from one of the stacks and waited until Sakura was almost out the door before she said, "Oh there is one thing."

Her former student paused with her hand on the doorknob, "Yes?"

"One of the earlier reports stated that one of the people marked as fatally wounded managed to pull through. I would like you to go over our triage procedures and see if there are any flaws in it. It was probably just one of those battleground mistakes, but as a Medical-Nin we are not allowed to make them. Have the review on my desk in one week."

"I understand," Sakura said quietly.

"All right, go home." When Tsunade heard the door close she wondered if she'd done the right thing. Really, it had not been hard to figure out what had happened. Konohamaru had been classified as critically wounded and she was supposed to believe that Naruto had managed to make it to the triage station only to collapse of chakra exhaustion? Maybe if she had not been so acquainted with Naruto and Sakura for that matter it might've slipped past her, but even then she doubted it. Of course, if she officially looked into it she would have to take action and she would prefer not to discipline Sakura simply because those circumstances were unlikely to repeat themselves. She felt forcing her to review the triage protocols was a significant enough punishment. Maybe she would even find something to change in them.

She wondered if her former sensei had been more lenient with the three of them than he would have been with others. Jiraiya refusing to come back to the village until he felt those three orphans could defend themselves was a good example. Then there was when she decided to leave the village. Back then all he had said was, "When you're ready, come back." She smiled as she remembered how she had sworn never to step foot back in this village. Her smile faded, though, as she remembered the third member of their team. Orochimaru was the perfect reason not to give anyone special treatment.

She shook her head. No one on that team was close to Orochimaru's level of narcissism. Yes, Sasuke had gone off and had done his own thing, but he had taken out an Akatsuki member, and with his personal vengeance now behind him she couldn't see him becoming a problem. Of course, Naruto had attempted to follow him and had managed to take out the other half of the Akatsuki team. Then, there was Sakura who had saved a life that would have been lost otherwise and without losing someone else.

The counterargument, though, was simple. None of them could have known how things would turn out. Naruto or Sasuke might have been needed on the front line when they were off doing their own thing or there might have been an unexpected complication that only someone of Sakura skill could've handled. Would they really not do this again? No, she was just tired and jumping at shadows.

Tsunade attempted to throw herself into her work, putting the decision she had made behind her. She was starting to make a real dent in the piles of papers when there was a knock at her door. "Enter."

The door opened to reveal Kotetsu who was smirking. "Neji Hyuga and his team just showed up."

"Excellent, show him in," she said feeling her spirits lift a little. She had never forgotten about them, but with all that had been happening lately one missing team was low on the priority list.

Neji walked in a moment later, his clothes looking more like they belonged on a Rain ninja. "I apologize for my delay, but I have obtained information of immediate concern to the village's current situation."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, her curiosity aroused. "All right, start from the beginning."

"Very well," he nodded. "My team and I had accepted a mission to inspect several dams in the Grass country. I largely viewed this as a training opportunity for my team and the mission was going according to schedule until we reached the last village. I had inspected the damn and we were scheduled to leave the next morning when the village we were staying in was attacked. At that time I was unaware of who the attackers were, but as we were attacked, I chose to withdraw."

"My intention was to dive into the Rain country for a few miles and then reemerge back into Grass, but we were pursued. I intercepted our pursuers and learned that one of them had the Kekkei Genkai of the Ishi clan which confirmed the enemy as Rock ninjas. After I was able to lose the tail, I chose to go deeper into the Rain Country hoping that they would be hesitant to chase us into a third country. I however quickly learned that Ame and Iwa were working together. My team and I found ourselves in another battle and this time we were only saved by the intervention of a third-party."

"A third-party?" She repeated surprised.

"Yes, a third-party. It seems for several years there was a rebel faction fighting against Amegakure. They apparently even managed to take control of the Hidden village, but were eventually destroyed. It was the remnants of this rogue faction that came to our aid. They healed my injuries I had sustained in the battle and then I met with the leader. He was a sickly man, but he apparently was maintaining a barrier around what was left of the village preventing any unauthorized personnel from entering. He also informed me that an attack on Konoha was imminent. Furthermore, he informed me that he believed if Hanzo was assassinated Amegakure would lose its will to fight. He also believes he knows of a way to assassinate Hanzo."

Assassinate Hanzo she mused. He was the man who had given her team the title of Sannin. She could still remember that battle now nearly three decades in the past. The man must be approaching sixty if he wasn't already there. Still, the idea of assassinating him of all ninjas was daunting. However, if it could knock that village out of the war, it was certainly worth considering.

"Do you think this man is trustworthy?"

Neji paused before answering. "He did inform me of the attack on the village before it happened, but there is something definitely off about him. I think it's certainly an option worth looking into, but with the obvious caveat that he is working towards his own goals."

"All right, I will want a more detailed report when you're clean and rested. Is there anything else?"

The Jonin paused, but eventually said, "I would just like to state officially that my team performed admirably under adverse circumstances."

"Fine, dismissed."


	22. Of Family and Memories

A ninja is only as strong as what he is fighting for.

-Anonymous

* * *

"Are you awake, Sasuke?"

Opening his eyes he flinched back, "Not so close Kado."

The kid, as Sasuke perpetually thought of him, smiled and took one large exaggerated step back from the hospital bed and questioned, "Better?"

"Yeah, did you bring what I asked for?"

"I looked through the family records for you and found what you wanted. Of course, I still don't know why you wanted me to look this stuff up."

He could sense the younger's curiosity, but right now he didn't want to bring him into this. It was partly because if he told Kado about the man with the Sharingan he would report it, like he should be doing. The problem for Sasuke was he wasn't sure if he wanted it reported just yet. He figured he could use his mild concussion until he was at least released from the hospital tomorrow as an excuse. However, Kado would not have such a luxury. "I'll tell you later," he said with a nod to the other bed in the room which had another sleeping ninja in it. "Just trust me and give me the information now."

The words had the desired effect on Kado as he surrendered. "Fine, but there isn't much. First I have to say our family classifies a member missing in action if their head is not recovered. So that said it might come as a surprise that there's only four Uchiha classified as missing since the founding of the village where these record start."

"Really, that few?" Sasuke said surprised. He didn't know offhand how many average ninjas bodies were not recovered, but given their Kekkei Genkai, he supposed his family would go that extra mile to recover them.

"Yeah, now, starting from earliest to now we have Sorano. She disappeared just after the Third Great Shinobi War ended. She was fifteen and a chunin. She went missing with another chunin on a mission to the Moon Country where they were supposed to escort a criminal. They arrived there safely, but on the return voyage their ship vanished and presumably everyone on board were lost at sea. That brings us to the Great War itself, where one Isoroku, another chunin is classified as missing, but with an asterisk next to that classification. They found most of his body, but not the head," Kado said grimacing.

"An explosion?" Sasuke questioned.

"Yeah," the other nodded.

Settling back into his bed he said, "Keep going." So far no one seemed promising, but if he had to pick one of these two it would be Isoroku, on the sole criteria that it was unquestionably a man who had spoken to him.

"Right, well then we have to jump all the way back to the Second Great War to find our next missing family member. Makoto, a Jonin was according to the surviving members of his team, was killed in a very large rock slide. He was considered too deeply buried to bother digging him out. That brings us to our last missing family member, one Madara."

Sasuke waited, but when Kado didn't say anything he looked over at him and saw he was shifting nervously. "What?"

The other Uchiha suddenly found the ceiling very interesting as he said, "I don't know how to say this, but our records from back then, well they kind of suck. I mean there just isn't much about this guy, but what there is about him makes it seem like there should be a lot more."

"That's not your fault, Kado." Sasuke resisted the urge to sigh. Kado had this annoying habit of blaming himself for things he couldn't control. "Just tell me what you have."

"Well, it seems like Madara Uchiha was once the clan's leader before the founding of Konohagakure. He seem to have stayed in that role until he up and left the village sometime during the reign of the second Hokage, though, the exact date isn't recorded. His date of death is reported, but there are no explanatory notes and he was never labeled as a missing-nin. He has a grave, but I don't know. There is no record of his body being recovered so I don't know how to classify him."

A missing clan leader, he thought. That seemed promising, but he tried to do the math in his head before realizing Kado probably already know. "How old was he when he died and exactly how long ago was that?"

"I can't be sure about his date of birth. He was born before the founding and most of those records were destroyed and the ones that did survive are spotty at best. Still, if we assume he was twenty when the village was founded we are talking about someone who could've been born a hundred years ago." Kado said shrugging the small detail off.

A centenarian? Was it even possible to be a ninja when you were that old? Well, it had to be one of those four because if it wasn't then someone would've had to obtain two eyes with the Sharingan and that didn't seem possible. Kakashi only had one which he had developed impressively, but he couldn't use it constantly and this man definitely had two. Or did he?

For the first time, he considered the possibility that he might have been under a genjutsu when he saw the man. Of course, why the man would use such a thing on him he could only speculate on. However, the possibility that someone was trying to lure him out of the village seemed a lot more likely than a hundred-year-old ninja.

"Sasuke!"

"What," he snapped.

Kado, annoyed and slightly hurt glared at him and said, "If there's nothing else I'll be going."

"Fine go." The younger Uchiha was almost out the door when guilt finally overtook Sasuke and he added, "Kado, thanks. You did a good job."

"Yeah, well get better," the other said over his shoulder.

With the kid gone, he went back to trying to figure out why someone would want to set up a meeting with him. If he presumed the man was lying then he had to assume it was a trap. He may not have a reputation like Kakashi or other Jonin yet, but he did have the Sharingan, and as Kado's existence proved other villages did desire his families Kekkei Genkai.

Of course, for this theory to work, it required that the enemy knew ahead of time that Itachi would be there and that implied a certain level of corroboration if it wasn't coming from the same group. That meant he had to make a decision soon, whether to inform the village or not.

"Morning Sasuke," Ino said strolling into the room.

Unconsciously, he smiled as she took a seat next to his bed and despite his thoughts he felt his mood lift, if only a little. "Morning," he responded not knowing what else to say.

Ino made a show of brushing a nonexistent piece of lint off of her chest as she said, "So what's on your mind?"

The questions wording struck him as slightly odd and then he realized that it was unlikely that both Kado and Ino would visit him so closely together by accident. "Are you two plotting behind my back again?"

Without missing a beat Ino answered, "We would do it in front of you, but we find it less effective. Now, the two people who care about you are worried so talk."

Briefly, he wondered when his life had turned into a comedy.

* * *

"Sakura!"

Sakura Haruno flinched as she heard her boyfriend shout her name. Ever since she had transferred his chakra into Konohamaru she had been making a mild effort to avoid him. However, Konoha could be a small place and he knew where she lived so running into him on the way home wasn't really that odd. The funny thing was she wasn't angry with him or at least she didn't think she was. If she was honest with herself, she didn't know why she had wanted to avoid him. Still, she couldn't pretend that she hadn't heard him, so stopping she turned and waited for him to catch up to her.

"Good evening," she greeted.

"Hey," Naruto said coming to a stop. "I just came from the hospital and Konohamaru is doing pretty good, but he won't be out for a while. Still, when I walked into his room you know who was visiting?" He paused for a second, almost as if he expected her to guess, but before she could even think of a person he said, "Hoshiko was there, all by herself."

He laughed and despite herself the idea of the taciturn girl actually showing a little empathy was almost funny. "Well, one burn victim to another I guess."

"Yeah, I guess. So, can I walk you home?"

This time, she did chuckle. "I'm only about a hundred feet away from home," she said nodding in the direction of her parent's house.

"Yeah, but its a hundred feet we can walk together."

Sakura closed her eyes trying to decide if what Naruto had said was either endearing or lame. She decided it was just Naruto as she said, "All right."

"Great, but we could make this a longer walk if you want to get some Ramen?"

"Thanks, but I have work to do," she said starting to walk towards her home.

"Oh," Naruto said clearly disappointed, "I thought you were done for the day."

For a second, Sakura hesitated, but she decided to tell him the truth, "I would be, but I was ordered to go over the triage guidelines. Lady Tsunade knows what I did, but she's not calling me directly on it." She turned to see Naruto's reaction to her words and realized that she wasn't really angry with him, but scared.

Throughout her entire life she had been the good girl or at least tried to be. True, she had argued with her mother during her preteen years, but she also studied hard and always obeyed the rules. She was one of the few Academy students in her year who had never received detention for bad behavior or late work. When she had started training under Tsunade she had followed her every order. Even when she had been exhausted from studying and constant chakra control exercises, she had never slackened, never taken a day off even once.

Then, with a few words, Naruto had made her break the rules. No, that wasn't fair, he had not forced her, but she had simply been unwilling to deny him his request. True, she could say that because she could save Konohamaru, she was obligated to try. However, if Naruto had not been there, she knew she wouldn't have tried. The fact was, Naruto had made her go against her training and perhaps the truly scary part was she didn't regret it.

"Oh," was all Naruto said at first and then he stopped walking and she did likewise as he looked directly at her. "Sakura, I'm sorry you got in trouble. If you want, I'll go tell her right now that I forced you to do it."

For a second, she gazed into his eyes trying to read him, but when she spoke it wasn't to give an answer. "Naruto, would you ask me to do that again? Would you ask me to take the chakra out of your body and put it in Konohamaru's even if there was a good chance it would kill you?"

It didn't take Naruto a heartbeat to answer her question, and when he did it was with all the confidence she was used to seeing in him. "I'll do everything I can to save my friends."

A real epiphany is a rare thing Sakura would think later, but at that moment she knew that putting her faith in Naruto would not lead her wrong. It was at that moment, on a crowded street in Konoha that she would admit unequivocally that she was in love with Naruto Uzumaki.

Pushing him gently against the closest building, she leaned in and kissed him. It was not a peck on the cheek or a furtive brush against the lips like they had done so far, but one reserved for the special moments in life. It was one reserved for lovers long parted and one for lovers found.

She deepened it and then prolonged it. Such public displays of affection on the street in public was not something that was considered socially acceptable. In the back of her mind she knew people must be looking at them. She didn't care.

* * *

Tsunade crumpled the piece of paper she had been writing on and threw it in the general direction of the wastebasket. It joined a dozen other crumpled pieces of paper whose fate was to be scribbled on and then discarded. Usually, assassinations were handled either by an ANBU team or a single individual. However, the target was Hanzo who was no ordinary ninja. She was very wary of him.

Shikaku Nara, who was supposed to be assisting her in this manner leaned back in his chair as he let out an unusual sigh of frustration. "All right, the only person we agree on is that Neji Hyuga has to go. He's the only person who's actually seen this leader before and his Byakugan will be useful."

"Yes," she said cutting him off, "but, the man also specifically said that Jiraiya should accompany him back there. However, he's out of commission for at least a month and probably longer."

"Well, in that case, if Jiraiya is unable to go directly, perhaps his student could be a suitable substitute. If I recall correctly Naruto can summon toads so perhaps they could communicate that way if it became necessary."

Reluctantly, she wrote down Naruto's name, but put an asterisk next to it to remember to inquire about the toads before making anything official. Looking at the two names she said, "This team is looking too green again. Neither of them has ever been on a direct assassination mission before. Also, we can't forget this might just be one giant trap." Even as she suggested it, the possibility was starting to seem less likely every time she thought about it. After all, if the first attack had gone off as planned they wouldn't be here discussing it. Although, given Hanzo's ability to plan, he would also know that they would be desperate to try something to end the war if the attack had not succeeded.

"Perhaps I should go on this mission," Tsunade said giving voice to a thought that had been lingering in the back of her head.

"Stop" Shikaku said the single word quietly, but it had all the authority of a superior speaking to a subordinate. It took her back, not because she was so used to being obeyed, but simply because it was so unlike the man.

"You are the Hokage of this village. If we lost you now it would be devastating, both for the morale of the village and the loss of your considerable medical skills. You know this. You also know that anyone you send on this mission, like any other mission you assign, may not come back. The difference here is you know what Hanzo is capable of. You're fighting your memory of him." He nodded towards the wastebasket overflowing with crumpled papers. "Now, if you really thought about this honestly, I think you would admit that you already have a team in mind."

Tsunade opened her mouth to object, but she realized that Shikaku was right. That battle from so long ago loomed large in her memory and she was comparing the people she might send against him to her teammates from back then and herself. Now that she recognized that she was doing that, though, it was like a block had been removed from her mind.

"Neji needs to be on the team and Naruto too. Not only for the reasons you listed earlier, but his ability to create hundreds of clones can provide an unparalleled diversion if need be. Sakura should be added onto the team as a medic-nin. She's one of the best in the village and her combat abilities are superior to that of Shizune. Of course, this still leaves them green."

"They need a tactical specialist," the Jonin commander suggested.

"And the three best in the village are you, your son and Kakashi."

"My son just doesn't have the experience and to be honest I think Kakashi is smarter than me and better in a knock down drag out fight."

"Oh, what makes you say that," Tsunade asked raising an eyebrow in surprise. She had known Shikaku for a long time and while he was lazy like most males in his clan he was also the best at assessing other ninja's abilities.

Shikaku rocked back in his chair and said with a straight face, "He's the one who convinced me that taking this job was a good career decision. It's something I'll never forgive him for."

Her laugh came out more as a snort as she wrote down the two additional names that they had decided on. That only made four, which was acceptable for an assassin team, but she wondered if adding Ranmaru might be worthwhile. His ability to hide his presence and that of his teammates was extremely useful. However, she quickly concluded that he was too green to be sent on the mission and it might interfere with the use of the Byakugan.

Instead, she tried to cast her mind to the older ninja on the active roster. Preferably someone who could use water jutsu or perhaps someone who could counter them would be better.

"What about Sasuke? He's a good all-around fighter and he took down his brother which is impressive. Not to mention I understand he's really good at countering and detecting Genjutsu."

"He also won't be combat ready for two weeks at least," she responded without even looking up from the paper. Then, she paused in her thoughts and added, "That's a good angle how about Kurenai?"

"It would round out the team," Shikaku said, but then immediately added, "I'm not sure if she has the experience though. I don't think she has been on too many high ranked missions."

"That's true, but now that I think about it, a Genjutsu user needs to be there for support if nothing else."

"Then she is the best in the village," the Jonin Commander said shrugging.

Tsunade wrote the last name down to form the five-man team and ripped off the pad. "Summon these five to my office." She pretended she didn't hear Shikaku mutter something about bossy women.


	23. Preparations and Contemplations

I have heard it said that life is beyond value. This must be a joke. My life is valuable. My comrade's lives are valuable. The lives of the citizens of my village are valuable. Everyone else, I don't lose sleep over.

-From the diaries of the Tsuchikage

* * *

Naruto never really thought about it before, but at some point in his career, he had truly become a ninja. When he had first become a Genin, he had thought he had been a ninja, but D-rank missions were just glorified day labor. Picking up trash was fine and all, but it was not something a real ninja would do. Then there had been his first C-ranked mission where he had froze during an ambush which was also something a real ninja didn't do.

Maybe he had become a ninja on that bridge when he had fought Haku or maybe it had been much later, perhaps during the samurai uprising. It could be even as late as his second battle with Orochimaru. He guessed he would never be able to pin point when he had stopped training to be a ninja and actually had become one. Still, when he had been summoned to the Hokage's office and her first words to the group had been, "This is an assassination mission," he knew he was a ninja.

Shaking his head to clear it of the unnatural thoughts, he turned to Sakura who had just received the same briefing he had. "So, we got the rest of the day before we leave, you want to get something to eat?"

"Yeah sure," Sakura said distractedly, "I'll meet you at Ichiraku in an hour. That comment about his underwater combat abilities got me thinking so I want to talk to Tenten."

"Um, okay," he said recognizing her distracted tone and knew continuing to talk to her would be useless. "All right, I'll see you then."

She said something as she started to walk away and he didn't bother saying goodbye knowing she wouldn't hear him. He started to go in the other direction wondering how he could kill an hour when a hand landed on his shoulder. Turning, he saw the hand belonged to Kakashi. "Yeah?"

"Naruto," he began, "are you okay with going on this mission?"

He frowned, wondering if Kakashi was doubting his abilities. "Yeah, why?"

Kakashi, hearing the hostility in his tone mollified Naruto by saying, "I do not doubt your capabilities Naruto. It's just sometimes people have trouble with these type of missions."

"What, why?"

Removing his hand from Naruto's shoulder, his old sensei tried to shrug the question off. "Never mind Naruto, I forget how much you've grown sometimes." With that he turned and walked away his nose already buried in his book, leaving behind a very confused chunin.

Naruto stood there in the abandoned corridor for a minute trying to understand what Kakashi had been driving at. The answer didn't occur to him so he shrugged and gave up on it as he left via the closest exit. Still, as he sat on a rooftop a few minutes later, he couldn't quite get his old sensei's words out of his head. Well, it wasn't his words, but the meaning behind them. How was this mission different than any other he had been on? He had been on dangerous missions before. He had risked his life before, so what was the big deal? Perhaps more importantly, why was not knowing bothering him?

The question continued to nag at him like a newly formed blister as he watched the people pass by below, but nothing occurred to him. The hour before his lunch date crawled by and then he spotted a familiar figure walking the streets.

"Shikamaru!" He shouted jumping down to the street level and landing right next to the other ninja who didn't seemed all that surprise by his sudden appearance.

"Naruto, it's been a while. I see you're not up to anything important."

"Hey, I have a mission tomorrow and a date in about forty minutes."

"So you want to use me to kill time?"

Naruto grinned at the friendly jab. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Fine, you can tag along. I was just clearing my head anyway."

"Oh," Naruto said curiously, "they have you doing something?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru said starting to walk again, "they got me reading old intelligence reports in case they missed something the first time around. It's the definition of tedious."

Making a face of disgust, Naruto said, "Sounds boring."

"I did call it tedious. So can you talk about your upcoming mission?"

"Not really. It's an assassination mission, but that's all I can say."

"Assassination?" Shikamaru glanced over at him, but didn't break his stride. "And you're okay with that?"

"Why do people keep asking me that?" Naruto demanded. "It's just a mission."

"Yeah, but if you succeed at the end of the mission someone's going to be dead. You're okay with that?"

Naruto frowned over at his friend, "Yeah that happens with battles."

Shikamaru shook his head, "You're right, but an assassination mission is different your going out to kill someone. It's not really like fighting in a battle. It's more personal and sometimes people have trouble with that. Deliberately trying to kill someone they don't know."

At that second Naruto realized what Kakashi had been hinting at earlier. He tried to think about it, but realized he was just all right with it. "I guess you're right, but the Hokage wouldn't ask us to do it, if it wasn't important. Besides this could shorten or even end the war."

Shikamaru nodded, "Trust your leader, but make sure there's a good cause. So if you were the Hokage, would you have ordered this mission you're going on?"

Without hesitating, he answered, "Yeah, I would."

"You've thought about it?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I think this could really end the war faster," he trailed off not really knowing what Shikamaru was driving at.

The other ninja nodded, reaching some conclusion. "Not everyone does, you know. The fact that you did, well you'll make a good Hokage one day."

"All right," Naruto said not really sure how his friend had reached that conclusion, but glad that he had.

* * *

Neji had never been so relieved to arrive back in Konoha than when he and his bedraggled genin had arrived at the gates. He had been a little disheartened that his warning had come a little late to warn his village, but relieved that the attacking force had been routed. Once he had delivered his final written report and with his students now in the hands of their parents, he had returned home hoping to have some rest before he would doubtlessly have to lead a team back to that destroyed village.

Unfortunately, on arriving at home he learned that Hiashi Hyuga had not returned from his latest mission. Given the circumstances surrounding the mission he had not been classified as missing in action as of yet, but any disruption to the family order tended to unsettle everyone. The interpersonal relationships between the main and branch members were complicated to say the least, but in the end they were family.

Still, he had been tired and had gone to sleep without much thought on the matter. When he awoke the next morning, though, his mother gave him two messages. The first was he had to report to the Hokage's office for a mission and Hanabi wasn't handling her father's absence too well. She had not said outright that he should talk to Hanabi, but he was currently the only member of the family that was a sensei and they were also the closest in age since Hinata's death. Of course, his mother was unaware that the last time he tried to talk to her when she was upset he had been punched for his troubles. That was a year ago, though, and they had both grown considerably since then.

However, he had to deal with the problems in order of priority, which meant the meeting came first. Stopping to eat lunch at a small restaurant, he started to walk back home when it started to rain, which actually made his next task easier. Chances were Hanabi would be training to distract herself and unless she intended to get drenched there was only one inside training facility on the Hyuga's grounds.

Making his way to the solitary training building, he found it dark and for a second he thought he might have guessed wrong, but then he heard a faint noise as metal struck wood. The Hyuga family specialized in hand-to-hand combat, but they did practice with weapons even if most of the clan let those skills atrophy. He had been no different, but his battle in the swamp had shown him he was relying too much on his Byakugan. The chances he'd run into another individual who had the ability to block his Byakugan were slim, but next time it would doubtlessly prove fatal and not just for him.

Hanabi was in a wing of the building. It consisted of a long corridor where several people could stand side-by-side and practice throwing kunai or any other type of throwing weapon. She either didn't notice that she was no longer alone or simply chose not to acknowledge him.

Taking several kunai from the storage locker, he took aim at the furthest target and threw. A second later he winced as the kunai hit the most outer circle of the round target. Tenten would be laughing at him if she saw that.

"You suck."

"I haven't thrown a weapon in years," Neji said in his defense. She snorted and threw her own kunai which landed much closer to the target center. He did likewise, but his weapon missed the target this time.

"It's your follow-through. Well, it's more like you're lack of a follow-through. Here let me show you," she quickly demonstrated and said, "See? If you don't follow-through like that, you loose accuracy because you're changing the weapons velocity at the last second."

In the back of his head, Neji could hear an old instructor telling him the same thing. Still, doing as she had instructed his kunai did impact closer to the center. "You're not a bad teacher Hanabi."

The girl laughed sharp and despairingly. "I'm just repeating what I was told to do by someone else."

He considered her words for a minute, "A surprising amount of teaching is just that. You teach largely what's been taught to you. Of course, your own personality and experiences shape the way you teach." For a second, he thought back on his own sensei. While the word "Springtime of Youth" or "Flame of Youth," would never escape his lips, he had tried to pass the meaning of those words onto his students with mixed results. Briefly, he wondered who had taught Guy sensei and shuddered at the idea of some spandex wearing retired ninja in a wheelchair.

"Yeah, but that doesn't help if people don't listen to you."

Neji was about to open his mouth to say that a student that was unwilling to learn could not be taught when he realized they weren't exactly talking about teaching. Yes, doubtlessly Hanabi was worried about her father, but she was also thinking of the role she would be expected to step into if her father was indeed dead.

Reconsidering his words, he said, "That's more difficult, but in a way it's no different than learning anything else. When I was your age I never thought I would be a Jonin sensei and in truth, while I was technically a strong ninja for my age, I was also arrogant."

"Then you got your butt kicked," Hanabi supplied.

He grimaced having forgot she had been there to witness that match. "Yes, there's more to being a ninja then just being physically strong and skilled. That match taught me people can change. The weak can become strong. Skill, even if it's innate must be refined and of course," he threw another kunai which landed next to the previous one, "anything that is not practiced, will atrophy. So even if you're terrible at something, you just have to take it a little at a time."

The younger girl was silent for a second, and then she said with her eyes fixated on the target down range "I had this one teacher at the Academy, it was her first year teaching and she was really bad. We really didn't learn anything with her."

"Well, in that case," Neji began, "she either had no one to turn to or was simply unaware she was in over her head. Either that or sometimes people are just too proud to ask for help."

This time she hid her silence by pretending to aim another kunai. When it hit the target she spoke without looking at him "So if someone came to you for advice, would you give it?"

"If somebody asked for my opinion on something, I would of course give it, quietly if necessary."

She nodded quickly more to herself than to him "I'll keep that in mind."

Neji nodded although Hanabi couldn't see it. He wasn't sure if he had been any help, but if she knew he was willing to be here for her perhaps it would relieve some of her worries. Really, that was all he could do right now. If her father had been killed in action, then she would not have to assume control of the clan until she was eighteen but he imagined it would be a heavy burden knowing it was coming like that. So, he decided he'd be there for her as best as he could just like he tried to be there for his students.

* * *

Sakura had gone to bed early the night before, so when her alarm clock had started to go off at five in the morning, she had already been fully dressed and simply shut the alarm off. Swinging her pack over her shoulders, she quietly left the room and house without waking either of her parents.

The morning air was still cool and refreshing from the afternoon rain yesterday. She had twenty minutes until she was supposed to meet the rest of her team at the rendezvous spot, and if Tenten had managed to complete the explosive device she had requested yesterday then she should be showing up any minute. Of course, that was assuming she had been able to complete it. Tenten had told her yesterday that she didn't have much experience with building specialized explosive devices, but at the same time she was the only person Sakura knew who had any experience. Sadly, it was one of those fields that most ninja never bothered to study, let alone practice.

"Sakura!"

Turning towards the voice, she tried to make a hushing gesture as Tenten came running towards her carrying what looked like a cooking pot. She frowned as the other girl approached with an almost manic grin plastered across her face. As a result of being around Naruto for so long, she scolded Tenten as she came to a stop. "People are still sleeping you know."

"Sorry, but I just finished this," Tenten said holding out the pot which she could now see didn't have a top, but was filled with some sort of hard substance with a rod sticking out from the center.

Sakura eyed it suspiciously, "This will explode underwater?"

"Well, I didn't have enough time to test everything, but it should work. Here let me explain how it works." Tenten spoke with all the enthusiasm of an obsessive with a captive audience. "Do you know how exploding note's work?"

"Sort of, you infuse chakra into them and then they explode."

The other kunoichi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you infuse them with your chakra which causes them to catch fire and then they go off a few seconds later. You can also use them in traps. When used in a trap, though, you have to connect the wire to two spots on the exploding note and then channel chakra into the wire. When the wire is disrupted or a concentrated source of chakra like a person comes near it, it will go off instantly."

Sakura remembered hearing all this at the Academy before, and really, it was knowledge so well known that she'd never really thought about it anymore. "Okay, why is this relevant?"

"Because," Tenten said a bit exasperated, "you can't use a wire or the proximity way of setting off this explosive, because it would likely blow up in your face and the fire system won't work underwater. Well at least not when you're setting off this many explosives. The fire may be initially ignited by chakra, but it still needs oxygen to feed the flames." Tapping the rod that stuck out of the pan, she continued, "This is the solution."

Sakura looked down at the rod that looked like an ordinary piece of metal. She looked back up at her companion and realized she would have to ask if she wanted a further explanation. "All right, why?"

"That metal is a very special metal. You see it's the same alloy that our weapons are made out of which means you can channel chakra through it, but it's going to travel slowly at least at this density." Tenten shrugged, "Well, three to five seconds. You see at the other end of this little rod there's another container with fifteen tags connected to the rod by a wire. Once the chakra hits them, big boom."

"And what's this stuff?" Sakura tapped the hard stuff that seemed to fill the pot.

"Wax," Tenten said simply. Sakura gave her a look and she shrugged, "It's the fastest way to waterproof something. You know those things don't work if they're wet."

Nodding, she gingerly took the explosive device from Tenten, grabbing it by the handles. "Thanks for your hard work."

"Hey, no problem," Tenten said with a shrug. "It was interesting trying to figure out how to set off such a large explosion underwater. I'm surprised no one ever tried doing something like it before."

"Well, considering how I want to use it as a last-ditch weapon. Plus you can only use it when your enemies are in the water and you are not."

"I guess," Tenten said yawning. "Well, I'm going to catch up on the sleep I missed last night."

"All right, thanks again." Tenten walked away waving over her shoulder as Sakura bent down and sealed the large bomb into a scroll for easier carrying. Now that she had seen the explosive, she really didn't want to use it.

Hanzo supposedly excelled at underwater combat, and with a little luck, she would be able to turn that to her advantage. If he was in the water and no one else was then she could throw this explosive device in there and set it off. Water was an excellent conductor of energy, and with a strong enough explosive, the shockwave alone could kill anything in the water.

Ninjas strengthen their bodies through training and chakra, but there were parts of the human body that simply couldn't be strengthened to any significant degree. The nervous system was one of these along with the eyes and the bronchial tubes inside the lungs. A blast from an explosion underwater could travel right through the body and rupture the blood vessels in the bronchi, causing someone to literally drown in their own blood. Even if the explosion didn't do enough damage to be fatal it would certainly take the wind out of him.

Of course, this was an experimental device that was untested. The circumstances that it could be used in were very specialized and with a little luck she wouldn't have to use it. Still, just in case, she should brief the other members of her team on it. With that optimistic thought, she turned and started to walk towards the rendezvous point.

Of course, this was an experimental device that was untested. The circumstances that it could be used in were very specialized and with a little luck she wouldn't have to use it. Still, just in case she should brief the other members of her team on it. With that optimistic thought, she turned and started to walk towards the rendezvous point.


	24. Eye of the Beholder

Never underestimate your enemy. That phrase is meant to encourage you to be cautious and it's a bit pessimistic. When things are going to well, something is not right. It's a wise saying, but so is the opposite. Never overestimate your enemy. If you overestimate your enemy you'll end up jumping at shadows at best and the worst be petrified with fear. Either one will get you killed.

-The Burden of Command

* * *

"All right, I'm going to release you from the hospital, but take it easy and I want to see you back here in two weeks, so that I can look at that arm again. Remember, you can't go back on active duty until that arm heals," Shizune said shaking her head as she entered something in his medical file.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to rely on Kado to practice against the Sharingan," Ino said from where she was leaning against the far wall.

Sasuke smirked and said, "Your concern for me is overwhelming."

She shrugged, "You're a glorified punching bag."

"Really? I can count on my hand the times you've managed to defeat me in our little kenjutsu sparring matches."

"Excuse me," Shizune interrupted. "I hate to bring this up Sasuke, but we really need to start the autopsy on," she trailed off, clearly not knowing what to call his brother.

Sasuke's mood soured as he was brought back to the moment. Standing up from the bed he nodded and said, "All right, let's do that now."

He had already dressed himself knowing he would be discharged today. Ino had brought him a change of clothes and Kado had taken most of the stuff he had come in with home already. So he only had his sword and of course the scroll with his brother's body sealed inside. He had kept both close to him and a minute later he was following Shizune out the door. Ino fell in behind him assuming she was invited and he didn't find any reason to object to her assumption.

Following Shizune down to the first floor, they traveled along corridors that he had never seen before. He never spent much time in Konoha's hospital, but he hadn't realized it was quite this big. The room they ended up in was windowless and if possible even more sterile then the rest of the hospital. There was a table full of medical tools that looked more intimidating than any weapon he had ever seen wielded by a ninja. The rest of the room was barren, except for a stainless steel table large enough for a body to be laid on and at the far end of the room there was a metal hatch labeled incinerator.

"Sasuke, as I'm sure you're aware as the Uchiha clan head, you are permitted to witness the removal and immediate destruction of his Sharingan, if you so choose." Shizune said formally.

Making his way to the table he asked, "You can do it now?"

"Um, yes of course."

Even with his back turned to her, he could tell she was looking at Ino when she had said that. Well, he didn't mind if she stayed and if she wanted to leave, well she was a big girl and could make her own decisions. Unrolling the scroll on the table, he surreptitiously bit his thumb and proceeded to make the necessary hand signs.

A second later there was a cloud of odorless smoke almost immediately followed by the smell of burnt flesh. The smell offended his nose. Sasuke had smelled that unique smell before and while on the battlefield it could be largely ignored, here in the hospital it just seemed wrong, but that could also been a consequence of the confined space. As he took a step back the smell wasn't so bad and he spared a glance at his brother's face.

He expected to feel something, as he saw his brother's visage for the last time. After all, this was the man who had murdered his clan, his parents. This man had destroyed all he had loved and where he had belonged. Then in an unexpected moment of clarity, though, he also saw that this man had not only destroyed his life, but had controlled him too. He had driven him to chase him. His brother had haunted him always staying just out of reach and it was inevitable one of them would end up here like this.

No, that wasn't fair. He had chased Itachi willingly. Sasuke had desired a showdown between the two of them and this was just cleaning up. Besides, as much as he lost, he had gained much too. Kado and Ino had filled, if not replaced the gap created by the loss of his parents and the rest of his extended family. Perhaps they were the final revenge on his brother. Simply moving on would be the end of all this. Still, he felt a twinge of curiosity. Not so much about his brother himself, but what that man had said, it seemed so incredible, unbelievable really.

From the corner of his eye he could see Shizune put on a white coat that opened in the back followed by a mask and gloves. He felt nothing as he sat back as she approached his brother's body. When she looked over at him and asked, "Shall I begin?" He simply nodded.

Ino seemed to tense up and he remembered that while she did have some medical training she had never gone past the classification of a field medic. Their jobs were to keep the injured alive long enough until they could reach someone with more training. He guessed she had never seen anything like this and if he wasn't feeling so detached right now he might be a bit disturbed too. Sasuke tried to nudge her hand with his as a gesture of reassurance, but the second their hands met she quickly grabbed his hand with her own. Now with his hand tightly grasped in hers, he found himself unable to pull away.

Shizune paused suddenly in her work and he suddenly had the feeling that something was wrong. The Medical-Nin quickly seemed to check the other eye before looking up at him her expression a combination of unease and concern.

"Sasuke, I'm sorry to ask you this, but do you remember what color your brother's eyes were?"

The question made him raise an eyebrow and he was so surprised it took him a minute to recall. "They're the same as mine."

The Medical-Nin looked back down and said, "These are green."

"What!" The word escaped Sasuke's mouth without thought as he pushed off the wall heading for the examining table. He stared down at Itachi's face. It was a visage that was more familiar to him then his own. For years he had seen it in his nightmares and while everything else seemed right, his eyes were clearly wrong.

He heard Shizune saying something that sounded like both a string of apologies and possible explanations, but his mind was thinking of something else. This had to be the work of that man with the Sharingan, but why? This made things more interesting, but at least he knew what he had to do now.

"I need to see the Hokage."

Shizune fell silent and after a second said, "Of course."

They left the room and Shizune alerted a guard before they went back upstairs. Ino had fallen in silently behind them and while he had not minded her presence in the morgue he didn't want her hearing what he was about to say. Stopping he said, "Hey, could you tell Kado that I've been discharged, but I have a meeting I have to go to?"

For a second she looked at him and he remained stoic under her gaze as if he was just asking for a small favor and not just trying to get rid of her. "Fine," the way she spat out the single word he knew he was in trouble, but she turned and walked away without saying anything else.

Shizune had not stopped either to give them their privacy or simply not noticing that they were no longer following her. He picked up his pace to catch up to her. They quickly and silently walked through the corridors that leaded to the Hokage's office. Once they reached the door to her office Shizune knocked in an odd pattern before pushing the door open.

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork and after her eyes flicked over to him said, "What's wrong with the autopsy?"

Shizune didn't hesitate as she answered, "I was about to removed the eyes under Sasuke's observation, when I noticed there was something wrong with them. When I peeled back the lids, I noticed the eye's themselves didn't look like they were actually attached. In addition to that, the color didn't seem right. When I asked Sasuke what color they were supposed to be, I was able to confirm that these were not the eyes of Itachi Uchiha."

Tsunade's eyebrows shot up at the news and Sasuke could tell her surprise was genuine and he was oddly relieved by that. "Sasuke," she said addressing him directly. "The scroll that Itachi's body was sealed in, was it ever out of your sight?"

"No, it was never out of my sight and while I did sleep, I'm positive no one tampered with it. In fact I'm pretty sure I know what happened."

If Tsunade had been surprised before, his calm demeanor seemed to leave her stunned. It took her a second finally to say, "And what do you think happened?"

Taking a deep breath he suddenly realized that this was why he didn't want Ino to be here for this. He wasn't going to tell the entire truth and he knew he couldn't lie to her. It was partly a strategic decision. After all, she was very good at reading people, but more to the point, he didn't want to lie to her. "After the fight with my brother, there was an incident."

Her expression changed from shock to disapproval as she echoed, "An incident?"

"Yes, my concussion has made everything a bit unclear or maybe it's meant to be that way. You see after the fight, another ninja appeared behind me. He was dressed in a black cloak with red clouds and I thought I was in for another fight, but instead he just talked to me." He paused only for a heartbeat to try and judge the Hokage's reaction to his words. He could tell he wasn't winning her over. Well, he couldn't blame her for that.

Forging forward he continued, "The man said there was a truth about Itachi and if I wanted to learn it, I would have to go to the old Uchiha hide out in one month and he would tell me everything. It's all a bit fuzzy." He really hadn't lied outright, but the man had been a bit more persuasive than he was letting on. However, everything did seem a little fuzzy which was largely due to his concussion he suspected.

The Hokage waited as if expecting more, but after a protracted silence she asked, "Why did you wait to report this?"

That was a dangerous question. His oversight was minor, but it was also something that could go into his record and affect his chances of a promotion. He never used to care about such things, but it had become more important recently. It would be very embarrassing if Kado was promoted to Jonin before he was. Not that it looked too likely anytime soon. Of course, if Naruto beat him to it, he would never hear the end of it.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure what I should have reported. It was a very strange incident and the more I thought about it the more it didn't make sense. So much so, that I started to suspect I was under a genjutsu and I think recent events confirm it."

"Explain," her tone was level and calm, unreadable.

"Well, first of all this man was wearing a mask and when he removed that mask, I saw he had a Sharingan." The silence in the room stiffened at that and he thought they might have turned a corner, but whether that was good or bad he didn't know. "Of course, I didn't remember him and if he was a clan member he looked young enough that I should remember him. So that was one thing that made me suspect I was under a genjutsu. The other thing was Itachi's missing eyes. I only looked away from his body for a minute or two at the most and no one could have removed his eyes that fast without me noticing. Besides if they were able to get that close to me they could have just as easily killed me."

"I see your point. So because you are uncertain whether what you saw was real or not you delayed reporting it?"

Sasuke nodded and added, "My memories have also become clearer in the last day or so." That last statement wasn't really true, but he had heard after a head injury that could happen.

She nodded, "So someone was able to get close enough and took the time to remove his eyes, but didn't bother to take the body. Why would someone go through that trouble?"

It sounded like an open-ended question so he shrugged and said, "Perhaps they want us to look inside of his head."

"Shizune, I want you to go do his autopsy and pull any staff you need too. It's top priority."

"Yes ma'am," Shizune said before excusing herself leaving the office.

Assuming the meeting was over he was about to turn and leave himself when she called out, "Wait a minute, we're not done yet."

He tried not to tense wondering if he was about to receive his first dressing down. "Yes?"

She gestured for him to come closer even as she dug around in her desk for a report. "What do you know about your brother's activities after he left the village?"

He shrugged. "Not much. He joined an organization made up of other S-rank missing-nin that was responsible for the abduction of the Kazekage. From what I understand they were extracting the chakra of the Tailed Beast sealed inside of him." He ended his statement with another shrug not knowing to what purpose that had been for.

Nodding, she unrolled a scroll. "That's pretty much all the intelligence we had managed to gather on the group, at least until a few days ago. We have a pretty fair guess on their strength now, but there were a few things that were unexplained."

Leaning forward, he frowned at columns of numbers not being able to make sense of it. "What am I looking at?"

"The financial transactions of the Akatsuki, the organization you're brother was part of. Anyway, I don't understand all this myself and I have people more qualified looking at it, but a thought occurred to me when you told me about this other man. You see about a year ago the Akatsuki stopped funding some big project in the Rain country. Of course, we have no idea what the exact nature of that project was except, that it consumed a huge quantity of Ryo."

"Now, with your information I have an idea. I propose that there might have been a split in the group which is why they stopped funding the project. I suspect your brother was on one side of the argument and this other man was from the other side. That would be why he would want us to obtain the knowledge still in his head which we could use to destroy the other faction. Of course, what I said earlier still stands."

Sasuke nodded following her reasoning, but asked about the one piece that didn't seem to fit into the new picture. "Then why take his eyes?"

She nodded slightly agreeing that it didn't fit. "I see multiple possibilities. The first and the one that's being checked now is simply the body is a fake."

He stiffened at that theory, the idea that his brother may still be out there rankled. "And," he prompted her.

The Hokage leaned back in her chair, as if she was putting distance between them. "You are one of the few that possess one of the most feared Dojutsu known. Others want that strength. Kado is a perfect example, but he was a long-term plan. Short-term well Kakashi may be a better example."

Sasuke was smart, but it took him a moment to catch on even though Kakashi had been his sensei for years. When it did finally click, he felt a wave of revulsion and anger. "Are there any other possibilities?" His tone almost turned a question into a demand.

"Not that I can think of. Medically speaking, even if properly treated, eyes don't remain viable for very long once removed. That man might have been dispatched to collect the loser. This meeting he set up with you might just be an ambush."

The old Uchiha hideout was pretty far from Konoha and if he did go to that meeting like the man had suggested, he would be alone. His anger subsided as he tried to reason everything out. After a moment he said, "We can use this."

Tsunade nodded. "I was thinking along those lines, but I don't know what our situation will be like in a month. I would prefer not to let this opportunity slip by, but the situation will have to dictate our actions unfortunately. Have you ever been to this hideout before?"

He shook his head. "No, I know where it is, but I've never had a reason to go. To be honest I couldn't tell you if anything was still standing there."He suddenly had a strange thought. How had the man known that such a place existed? It wasn't exactly widely known and as far as he knew his clan had never even made an attempt to keep it up. As quickly as the thought occurred to him, he abandoned it. Before the founding of the hidden villages a lot of clans had such strongholds and considering how strong his had been, it wasn't exactly a long shot. Of course, the hideout wasn't exactly hidden either, it was just out-of-the-way.

"All right, for now, concentrate on getting better Sasuke. If you can look up any information you have on the old hideout in your clan records that would be helpful. If the situation allows, I'll try to free up some ninjas in two or three weeks to scout the area ahead of time. If we can't scout ahead of time I'd prefer you not go at all."

It was hard to read what she was thinking, but in the mixture of emotions in her eyes he saw genuine concern and that was a little unnerving. He was used to seeing that emotion in the eyes of people who were close to him, but unlike Naruto he had never felt particularly close to her. Still, he found some sort of comfort in that knowledge. "All right, I'll be going then."

She nodded absentmindedly her mind already on other things as he turned to leave. As he left the office he realized he had to bring Ino and Kado up to speed and neither of them was probably too happy with him right now. Maybe he could turn around and ask for an S-rank mission instead of going home.


	25. Reflections

There are millions of ways to take a journey, but only a few destinations.

-Anonymous

* * *

Naruto allowed his fingers to skim over the water's surface as the small motorboat slowly took them upstream. They had left Konoha in the early-morning hours and had traveled all day before they hit the river. Neji had been able to find the motorboat that his team and he had taken downriver and now they were retracing his steps.

At first, Naruto didn't see the purpose in taking the boat back upstream, but as night fell he figured out why they were doing it. Ordinarily, they would break for camp to sleep, but with the boat they were able to continue moving up stream while most of them were able to drift off to sleep with the gentle rocking of the boat. That's what he was supposed to be doing, but he found himself unable to sleep. He was tempted to use the sleep jutsu, but that was a technique he never had much luck with. Either he put too much chakra into it and had to be slapped awake or too little and would just feel groggy.

So he just lied there, trying to not rock the boat and disturb the other three sleeping passengers. Still, after a while he became bored and nudged Neji who was steering the boat. "You sure you know where you're going?"

The moon provided more than enough light for Naruto to receive Neji's glare. "Yes, we just have to travel upstream and to the west. Besides, I did make a note of landmarks as I was traveling downriver."

Naruto nodded even though Neji had turned his gaze away. He was quiet for a minute before he asked, "What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Being a team's sensei, what's it like?"

Neji was quiet for a minute before he said, "Hard. It's hard, terrifying and wonderful." He paused again and Naruto wondered if he would just leave it at that, but something told him he should be quiet for a change. "It's nothing like I expected. When I first volunteered to do it I went in with all these ideas how I should teach and what I should do, but that didn't last very long. They say one of the goals of a sensei is to bring out the full potential of the Genin under them and there's no formula for that. Each student is different and has to be taught differently. It's scary when you realize that, but when you see them accomplish something," he trailed off for a second before saying, "it feels like when you accomplish it."

He nodded, sort of understanding what Neji was saying. When he had taught Konohamaru the Rasengan it hadn't really been harder than he thought it would be, but the sense of accomplishment was similar. Of course, the two of them were a lot alike so maybe that had made it easy to teach him. He had a hard time believing that there were one, let alone three people out there like Neji. "So is it anything like you thought it would be?"

Again, his answer didn't come quickly and when he spoke, it was carefully. "Yes, but not exactly. I thought I would eventually like them to some extent, but not as much as I ended up caring about them. This last mission we were on, well, it drove that home to me."

For a while neither of them spoke. Naruto looked up into the star filled sky and watched as a small cloud traveled across the sky. He wondered when he would be in Neji's position. On his way to becoming Hokage he would probably be given a team to train or at least that's how he always thought of it. It made him wonder what type of sensei he would be.

After a while, his thoughts returned from the future and came to dwell on the mission. "So you think we can really trust this guy?"

Naruto could almost imagine Neji shrugging as he said, "I can't really say. At first I thought he was a bit crazy, but well we'll see I guess."

He nodded absentmindedly. "Hey, Neji do you want me to take over steering for a while? I won't be getting to sleep anyway."

"All right, but when we merge with another river wake me."

* * *

It was late afternoon when it started to drizzle as their small boat rounded a bend in the river, the thick forest suddenly disappeared to reveal an open plain with structures in the distance. Naruto sat up and squinted, trying to judge how far they were away, but the buildings turned out to be so monolithic that they threw off his perception. Where Konohagakure had chosen to sprawl outwards with no buildings larger than five stories, this village had chosen to build upwards until the buildings seemed impossibly tall.

The differences didn't seem to end there, though. Where his home village had been built pretty much in the middle of nowhere, this village clearly was meant to take advantage of the river as it straddled both banks. Of course, that was the biggest difference he only noticed as they slowly came closer to the village itself. At first he had thought some of the monolithic structures had been painted black, but as they got closer it was obviously not an intended color. Many of the larger buildings seemed to have been scorched by fires and many of the smaller buildings were little more than rubble.

As they started to slip into the outskirts of the village, Kakashi asked, "Do you see anything Neji?"

"No, I-" He cut himself off and started again "Yes, I just saw someone in that building over there. It looks like they ran off though." He pointed to a small three-story building that looked only partially collapsed, as if a giant had sat on one end.

"All right, everyone try to look relaxed, but stay on your guard," Kakashi ordered.

"Should we get out of the boat and just walk on the water?" Naruto asked.

"No, just be alert," Kakashi said.

They drifted up stream for a few more minutes before Neji spoke again. "The dock my team and I departed from is up ahead and it looks like there's someone waiting for us."

"Just one," Kakashi said almost to himself.

"Yes, but remember my Byakugan was able to be blocked once before around here and I'm still not sure how they did that."

With that disquieting thought they again fell silent. They slowed as they came closer to the dock and Kakashi jumped out of the boat and onto the water before tying them off at the dock. The man waited for them to disembark and then said formally. "Welcome to Amegakure. Which one of you is Jiraiya?"

Naruto stepped forward and said as officially as he could, "Master Jiraiya couldn't come. I'm his student and can contact him if you need too."

The man's expression darkened. "I will see if this is acceptable. Wait here," he ordered before turning around.

"Friendly bunch," Sakura commented.

"Yeah," Kakashi agreed.

"Well, it was the only detail they were very specific about." Kurenai spoke up for the first time since they entered the destroyed village. "It stands to reason that it's important to them."

"Let's hope it's just not a deal breaker," Neji added.

As they waited the drizzle stopped, but the clouds didn't break. The overcast just made the village creepier to Naruto and he found himself staring into open apertures half expecting to see ghosts lingering in the buildings. He hadn't had that fear for a long time, and although everyone said there was no such things as ghosts he had never believed that himself. After all, he had stared into the eyes of a demon before so ghosts didn't really seem that far-fetched.

Eventually, the man reappeared from a different direction than he had left in and gestured for them to follow him. He led them into a building and down darkened corridors before eventually ending up in front of a metal door. The man knocked on it before opening it and nodded for them to go in.

Naruto assumed this was the same room that Neji had said he had met the leader in last time, but where he had said it had been dark it was now well lit. There was a single hospital bed with a man sitting up in it, but there was also another man who seemed to be standing next to a giant sandbox.

The man in the hospital bed looked over at them and seemed to address his question right to Naruto. "What has prevented Master Jiraiya from accompanying you here?" The man's tone was brittle, but he sensed strength behind those words. Naruto realized that even though this man's body seemed to be failing him, his spirit seemed strong.

"He was injured in a battle," Naruto answered feeling a bit uneasy around the man.

The man gave no sign that he had heard him, but gestured for them to gather around the sandbox. "Let us begin the briefing. Jin when you're ready."

The five of them gathered around the sandbox with the bed on one side and the other ninja, whose name was apparently Jin, on the other. The rest of them gathered on either side as Jin started to make hand signs. Surprisingly, Naruto recognized the jutsu even though he didn't know it himself.

When the man slammed his hand down and when the sand started to move he wasn't surprised. Little mounds formed themselves into buildings while others became a rougher surface. Strangely, the buildings seemed to be forming a semi circle with the terrain completely flat between them. There was one large building that was a little off to itself. All of the buildings seemed to be nestled inside of a hilly area.

"This is Amegakure or at least the new Amegakure," the man spoke up from his bed. "Hanzo has been denied taking back this village so he has decided to build a new home."

Naruto thought he heard contempt in the man's voice, but his tone was brittle, so it was hard to tell.

"That large building there is Hanzo's private residence. It's pretty much a Citadel. For those of you who were involved in that samurai incident several years ago the outside will look familiar. He has managed to incorporate many of the defensive features that were built into the castle particularly over the last year."

Naruto was all-too-familiar with that incident. The walls had only been taken thanks to Gaara creating a sand tsunami that had filled in the moat and created a ramp up to the top of the wall. Of course, when they had stormed that castle they had to fight samurai that had obtained forbidden weapons. Here, they would have to fight ninja, which meant a frontal assault would be out of the question.

"You said you had a way we could assassinate him." Kakashi spoke up easily slipping into his leadership role.

"Yes there is a weak spot." As he spoke, one of the hills that almost backed up to the Citadel started to separate as did some of the ground in front of it. "Hanzo is a very cautious man and he has constructed a tunnel from his residence to an escape point behind this hill. The exit is hidden inside of a small shrine. The shrine is maintained by eight monks, but they're actually ninjas he has hand selected by Hanzo for their personal loyalty to him. Once you get past them you can enter through the tunnel which will allow you to bypass the bulk of his security measures."

There was silence in the room for a minute before Kakashi spoke up again. "Assuming all your information is accurate it's still a tall order. I understand his security is tight and we don't have a way of cutting him off from the rest of the village so we'll only have a very small window of opportunity to take him out." What he had left unsaid, but even Naruto was able to pick up on was the simple fact that the plan seemed too risky with a very small chance of success.

The man in the hospital bed seemed to pick up on this too and laughed in his raspy voice. "Well, that's because I have not quite finished laying out the plan. You see Hanzo is security conscious and really he's paranoid at this point. No unauthorized personnel are allowed within his residence even in the case of an emergency. You'll have to deal with the guards that are there, but you won't have to deal with anything in way of reinforcements. Also, I will be using my remaining forces to launch a diversionary attack against the village itself."

Several buildings on the far end of the lake crumbled as the man continued, "That area is still under construction so it'll be perfect for a sustained battle. The village may not even be aware of the attack on the Citadel at first which will buy you even more time."

"And how strong is your force?" Kakashi questioned while still examining the map.

"Thirty-eight, mostly low-level Chunin with a few Jonin level individuals like Jin here."

"And when will they withdraw?"

"When Hanzo is dead. This land will not know peace until that despot is no more."

Naruto had been listening to the briefing with a growing sense of unease and now that feeling transformed into anger. "Where will you be during all of this?" He could almost feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as everyone turned to look at him, but he just stared at the frail man.

Seconds crawled by like minutes before he received an answer. "Most likely dead, I can tell I don't have much time left." The man delivered his words calmly as if he was talking about the weather.

"Naruto, why don't you wait outside?" Kakashi said quietly.

He opened his mouth to say something, but realized he didn't know what he wanted to say. For once, he was speechless and actually had no idea why he was feeling so angry. Without saying a word, he turned and walked out of the room.

* * *

A destroyed village was a lot creepier in the rain then when you could just see everything, Naruto thought to himself. He had been exiled from the meeting about an hour ago and while he had calmed down a little, he was still upset. He wasn't exactly sure why he felt that way, which was annoying, but there it was. He heard someone approaching and shifted to see Kakashi coming towards him and braced himself for a lecture.

"Good afternoon," his team leader said as he opened his near omnipresent book. He thumbed through it for a second as if he was trying to find his place and said casually "That got a little too interesting."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Sakura confirmed he probably doesn't have much longer to live. You were right to be concerned about his motives. Considering some of the other things we just learned," he shrugged "well, I doubt we would be here if we had known this stuff in advance. You especially wouldn't be here."

"What! Why?"

"Calm down, Naruto. It's just that man in their claims he was a former member of the Akatsuki."

For the second time that day Naruto was rendered speechless. The mental acrobatics needed to compare that man in the hospital bed with the Akatsuki, an organization made up of S-rank criminals were beyond him. "What?"

Kakashi shrugged in an attempt to make the situation seem like not that big of a deal. "He said it was an alliance of convenience. Basically the Akatsuki would back his war with Hanzo and he helped them with intelligence and the future promise that his village would back them when they made their move."

"So what happened?" Naruto asked shifting nervously. The village around him was no longer just creepy, but had transformed into enemy territory. Anger was also starting to boil in him as he remembered Gaara. The Akatsuki had almost killed him and the fact that one of their members, even a former member was so close was galling.

"About a year ago he was betrayed by them. Apparently he had never trusted them and they betrayed him before he could betray them. He claims to have no idea what they're doing now and I believe him." He paused for a second and added, "By the way, after Sakura determined that he was in bad health, I asked everyone else to leave the room so only you and I am aware of this information."

That last bit of information caught him by surprise and he looked over at the other man who he just realized was at his own eye level. "Why?"

"Initially I asked them to leave as a courtesy to him. However, I have chosen to keep them ignorant of this information because of you. Given your history with the Akatsuki I want to know if you would like this mission to continue or not. I'll take responsibility either way. I need you at your best and if you're uncomfortable, I would prefer to cancel this mission."

Perhaps Naruto should've waited and thought about the matter, but he always listened to his gut. "I'm fine. When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow, but there is one other thing we need to go over before then."

He let out a sigh, "What now?"

"Given the distances involved, we won't have any communication. Ordinarily we would just have to deal with that, but given the fact that you'll be on this mission with us. Well, do you think you could send some clones with the diversionary force? We won't have two way communications, but at least that way we can launch a joint assault."

"Yeah, that'll be easy sensei." After sending so many clones out on a long-distance recon mission this would be a piece of cake. Still, for some reason he felt a little uneasy. However, as Kakashi turned to leave, he remembered the conversation he had earlier that day with Neji, he smiled. Those two were different in a lot of ways, but he guessed they were similar in a lot of ways too.


	26. Different Rain

The difference between a good and a bad leader is not if they can inspire their people or if they have grand plans. It is not found in the strength of their character or body. What makes a good leader is the realization they cannot always pick their battles. Problems will come to you.

-Writer unknown, has been left on each Hokage's desk upon taking power.

* * *

The Rain rebels had allowed the expeditionary force to set up camp where they wished. Kakashi had picked a spot across the river in one of the sturdier looking buildings. Naruto wasn't exactly sure how much security it provided, but he wasn't complaining about being further away from that man. Still, now that night had fallen his anger had faded and his curiosity was starting to get the better of him.

Akatsuki was still largely a mystery to him. When he had learned about them when he was still a genin, he had been content to believe they were just the bad guys. While he still held that view, he recognized there were few people that were truly evil. Of course, just because his opponent might have a very good reason for doing whatever they were doing, that didn't mean he didn't feel the same way.

Kakashi had given him a scroll, which he had compiled after talking to the man about his activities with the Akatsuki. He had instructed him to summon a toad to pass the message on to Jiraiya and had left him to do so. Only after Naruto had dutifully done that did he realize that his old sensei had probably intended for him to read the document before passing it along.

Feeling a nudge from behind, he turned to see Sakura. "Hey."

"Hey," he said before turning back to look out the window.

She leaned against the wall next to him and for a moment said nothing before breaking her self-imposed silence. "You'll never be like him."

"What?"

"That guy, you'll never be like him. You're too connected to everyone else around you. You want to feel connected. That guy over there," she shook her head "that guy is detached from everyone around him. I mean his people believe him to be a God. For you to do that, well I just don't see that it's in you. You like being around people too much."

Despite the fact that she was off base, he smiled, appreciating her effort. For the first time in a long time he felt guilty for not telling her about his tenant and made a promise to himself that he would do so as soon as this mission was over with. Konohamaru had accepted it without any problem and he hoped for a similar reaction from her.

For a moment his mind drifted back to Konoha and his friends there. He didn't want them to get hurt and that was why he was here he guessed. If killing one man could avoid a war, it was something he would have to do. As much as he wanted it to be, the world wasn't a perfect place.

His mind was miles away, but when a small torchlight appeared, it immediately drew his attention. "Someone's coming."

"What?"Sakura looked out the window.

The room they were camped out in was small enough that his warning had drawn everyone's attention. The single light that Kakashi had been using to read was doused while Neji reported, "It looks like two men carrying a third."

"Three? Doesn't exactly sound like an ambush," Kurenai observed.

"True, but I think I'd prefer to meet them out there," Kakashi said. "Kurenai, Naruto you're with me. Neji you keep an eye out and Sakura be ready." He tossed Neji one of the radios and they headed out.

Kakashi was in front with Kurenai and Naruto on either side of him. The two groups stopped when they were about twenty feet away from each other and Naruto could see that the one man was being carried in a Kago by the other two. Then again, perhaps the man thought of it more as a mikoshi. After all, the guys thought he was a God and would need to be carried around in a shrine Naruto thought with some annoyance.

"Is there something we need to discuss?" Kakashi called out.

There was a moment of silence, then the voice of the rebel leader called out from the Kago. "I've come to talk to the student of Jiraya."

"About what?" Naruto said without thinking.

"We both knew Master Jiraya. I had hoped to ask him a question, but as he could not come, I would like to ask it of you."

"Alright, ask."

The two men carrying the Kago gently lowered it to the ground and walked away, a clear sign. Kakashi turned his single eye on Naruto, expressing a question. He hesitated, but his curiosity got the better of him and he shrugged and walked forward.

He approached the Kago, his feelings conflicted. There was a part of him that was angry, after all, this man had planned to have him and Gaara killed when their Demons were extracted for whatever purpose. So, he had no idea what he should be expecting. Stopping a few feet away so he could see the man clearly, he waited for the man to speak. The man's health had either deteriorated in the last several hours or the torch light just emphasized his bony features. He seemed to stare back with equally curious eyes.

"Master Jiraya took you on as a student?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered, not sure if it was an honest question or if the man was looking down on him.

The man nodded slowly, "For a brief time I too was once his student," at Naruto's look of disbelief he added, "it was during the Second Great Shinobi World War."

For the next several minutes, Naruto listened to the history of this land and to this man's history. His name was Nagato. In the end he wasn't sure what he could make of it. He had lost friends, but none so close. He had never known his family, but Sasuke had known his and lost his only to find another. In some ways he could relate to this man and in others he could not.

"I did try to stop the circle of hate," Nagato continued, "but then I realized the horrible truth. Do you know what the truth is?"

The man's pause was long enough that Naruto realized he wanted an answer. "No."

Nagato nodded as if that had been the answer he had been expecting. "When I was young, before my parents were killed I had a special spot I would go to. It was a small woody area that wasn't really special. I used to go there and play when I could, but sometimes I would just sit down and listen to how quiet it was. It seemed so peaceful. I would close my eyes and imagine everything was right in the world."

The man's expression had remained neutral throughout relating his history, but when he talked about the spot he smiled, if only a little. Then his expression fell. "That belief was as hollow as the peace of the great nations. I learned many years later about the subtlety of plants. They're constantly at war with each other. Chemical attacks, stealing of resources and sometimes outright strangulations are all tactics plants use in their silent war."

Again, Nagato fell silent, but this time Naruto was sure he wasn't expecting an answer. The man said, "Life is a struggle. It's a natural part of existence built into the world. It is why humans will never know peace. I believe that and sought to become a God to change it. Now I realize it's unchangeable. Now I just settle for the illusion of peace for this land."

"Shut up." Naruto hadn't realized he had said the words until they were out of his mouth. Now that he had said them, though, he realized he was angry. "You know, I thought I knew a few people who wallowed in self-pity, but you're the worst. Okay, you've had a rough life. Big deal a lot of people have. The difference between you and them is that you gave up. You wanted to end the cycle of hate, but you were just going to beat people into submission. Your peace would've been as fake as the ones you complain about."

Nagato's expression was surprised and Naruto wondered when the last time someone had raised his voice to him.

"You're young. What makes you think you'll be any different than me?"

He stood there for a moment, groping for an answer and then his conversation with Sakura came back to him. "You want to be alone. I don't. I've been alone and I don't like it. I've lost friends and that hurts, but I'm not going to give up."

The man stared at him for a very long time before he slowly nodded once. "Perhaps that will be the difference between you and I. I looked at the big picture, but perhaps I should've concentrated on the small." He reached out and picked something up and held it in his bony fingers for Naruto to take.

Taking the object, he looked down at it and in the light of the torch he could see it was a watch. The band looked new, but the part that told time felt old, even if it didn't look very old. He frowned at the man who seemed to shrink into himself.

"I wanted to ask you a question, but you already answered it. That watch however, is something more of a tactical necessity. Tomorrow the two groups will be out of radio communication, but with that watch you will be able to synchronize your attacks."

Naruto had never been the best student, but even he knew about the dangers of relying on watches. "I was always told you should never use a watch to synchronize an attack." From what he remembered, even if you set two watches at the exact same time, by the end of the day they would be off by a few minutes and that could make the difference in an attack.

"The watches we make are not very reliable, but this watch along with its companion is very old. They're not forbidden, but no one can quite reproduce their craftsmanship these days. Tomorrow check the other watch that will be carried by one of my men and you'll see that the second hand is in the exact same spot."

"They're relics?" Naruto questioned looking at the watch warily. He had some experience with such things and all had been universally bad. Several years ago, a group of samurai had managed to re-create a weapon called muskets which were supposed to be forbidden. Then there were rumors that at least part of Orochimaru's base had been left over from a bygone era, and now he held a watch, that if Nagato was to be believed, kept perfect time. Well, at least it wasn't too threatening.

"Yes, they are. Perhaps history can teach us a lot if we choose to learn from it but perhaps it can teach us nothing at all. Certainly we've tried to reverse engineer those a few times, but have never succeeded."

Naruto pocketed the watch and shrugged. "I will compare the two watches tomorrow, but if they're off by a second we won't use them."

"You'll see," Nagato said with a small smile. "There is one more thing I want to tell you however."

"What's that?"

"There was something I didn't tell your team leader earlier. You see the man leading the Akatsuki organization now is called Madara Uchiha."

He opened his mouth to say that all the other Uchiha were dead, but then he remembered Kado and he shut his mouth. He supposed if it had happened once, it might've happened again and it would probably be best to ask Sasuke, because if anyone knew he would. "I'll tell them that."

The other man nodded and Naruto turned to walk away, wondering what the question Nagato had intended to ask him was supposed to be.

* * *

The forest of Rain country reminded Naruto of the Forest of Death, only with a little less danger. It wouldn't have surprised him if some of the plants had been imported from the Rain country to create that particular training field. He hadn't yet seen a giant centipede or some of the other strange creatures he had seen during his exam, but he wouldn't have been surprised to see them here either. The major difference between the Forest of Death and here though was the humidity. It was hot and the sporadic showers did little to relieve the heat as they traveled through the forest.

Sneaking a large force near a hidden village was not an easy task. However, it could be done with difficulty. It helped that this wasn't foreign territory to their scouts. Neji stayed with them, using his Byakugan to keep them away from wandering patrols. They split up in the late afternoon with only Jin staying with the rest of the Konoha force.

Naruto sent twenty-five clones with the rebels, which should be more than enough to help them fight and hopefully communicate with them. He watched them go with an odd feeling. After his talk with their leader last night he didn't think that any of them would betray them, but there was something strange about them still. He had been uncomfortable around them and it had taken him a while to figure out why he felt that way.

Those ninjas truly believed they were serving a god and that level of faith was unsettling. He wanted to be a leader, but the blind faith these people followed him with was something he would never want to see directed at him. Respect was one thing, but worship was scary. It made him wonder about Hanzo. From what he had heard he wasn't exactly a good man, but if Naruto had to choose between him and Nagato, well, he'd be hard-pressed to choose. Fortunately, he wasn't in that situation.

About an hour after they separated their destination came into view. The terrain around the new Amegakure was hilly and they were unable to see the village from their viewpoint high on a hill. However, they could see the shrine or at least part of it. The shrine itself seemed small and there was a building off to the side that must function as the dorm.

"Neji," Kakashi said breaking the silence the group had traveled under.

Naruto glanced over at the Jonin to see his Byakugan was already active. "There are several individuals in the building and one close to the gate. Their chakra system seems to be fairly developed, but you can see that in regular monks too." He paused for a second and then added more hesitantly, "There's some sort of barrier in the shrine. It's not particularly strong, but from this distance I can't see through it."

"Good, any traps?" Kakashi asked.

"Not that I can see at this distance."

"Hanzo is a master when it comes to traps. Just because we can't see them doesn't mean they're not there." Jin spoke up from where he leaned against a tree.

"If we give them the possibility they might try to destroy the tunnel," Kurenai said as she peered through binoculars at the temple itself.

"I can't speak to that, but it wouldn't surprise me if something like that was set up," Jin said.

The group fell silent and Naruto looked up into the overcast sky. They were supposed to attack two hours after nightfall, but with the cloud cover that would be hard to time. The watches had proven to be as accurate as Nagato had said they would be which meant they should be able to launch the attack simultaneously. Still, even if they were better than the typical model, he didn't have that much faith in them.

"We could just walk in," Naruto suggested hesitantly.

"I don't think they will just let us walk right in Naruto," Sakura commented.

"Well, not all of us, but some." He started to smile as his vague thought became an idea. "When Jiraiya and I were traveling around training we would stay at shrines sometimes. Some would offer us a little food and other times we just got a roof over our head when it was raining. Jiraiya told me they don't like to do it for ninjas, but just regular travelers they're okay with."

"It could work," Kakashi said thoughtfully. "What do you think Jin?"

The old rebel shrugged, "Not sure. I've always been a ninja and never tried to pass myself off as a civilian. I'm not sure if it will get you inside, but it should get someone to the gate at least."

"All right, Naruto, Sakura your it."

"What? Why us?"

"Because Sakura, out of all of us, you are the only two that could possibly pass as civilians. If Neji tried to pass himself off as a civilian he would have to pretend to be blind which it difficult. Kurenai's eyes would give her away as with mine. Besides it won't be difficult for either of you to pass yourself off as young lovers eloping which would explain why you're traveling."

His last comment embarrassed both of them, but Naruto did notice that Jin had not even been suggested for the role.

The two of them stripped themselves of their weapons and Naruto had to leave behind his personalized Chunin vest, which hurt, but not as much as leaving behind his Hitai-ate. It was only a piece of flimsy metal and it was not like he wore it all the time like when he had first received it as a Genin. Still, on a mission, it deserved to be there. Pushing that thought aside he concentrated on the final part of their disguise.

They didn't want to rely on a Henge to bluff their way inside, so they had to do their best to look like civilian travelers. That was a lot easier said than done since their backpacks had been well used, which might raise suspicions so they decided to leave them behind and work it into their cover story. They then traveled about a mile through the woods and down the road where there was a bend and stepped onto the road. According to the watches, they had about forty-five minutes before the attack would begin if everything was going on schedule.

Sakura grabbed his hand, startling him.

"We're young and in love," she said in way of explanation.

Naruto glanced down at their joined hands and said, "Well we are, but we usually don't hold hands."

"I know, but a lot of couples do. Anyway, slow down we're tired from walking all day."

"All right."

It took the two of them about ten minutes to cover the mile, which was a pace that was so slow that Naruto had to stop himself from grinding his teeth. The shrine had a short path that led off from the road and the moment they stepped onto it a man appeared in the gateway. He was tall and thin like bamboo. "Can I help you?"

Naruto forced a smile "We've been traveling all day and were hoping you could give us a roof over our heads tonight."

"We would be willing to work for our keep," Sakura added as they both continued to walk towards the man.

"No room," the man shook his head to emphasize his point.

Deliberately misunderstanding Sakura said, "We don't need a room, just a roof over our heads. If you have a little storage shack or just anything covered will do. We just can't be rained on again for another night."

"You should've packed a tent; it is the rainy season after all."

"We did." she said dropping her tone. "We were robbed the other day and they took everything. We can't go back home and Yotsukado is not more than a day travel away."

According to Jin, Yotsukado was a fairly large village not too far away. Apparently a lot of people have been traveling there in hopes of finding work lately. A destination like that fit into their cover.

The man's expression flickered with sympathy before hardening again. "You can't stay here. It is against the rules, but we might be able to spare some food and blankets, but you'll have to wait here."

They were getting to the point where the man would either have to take a step back to stay out of easy reach or take a more dramatic measure to stop their casual advance. Their goal was to get inside as far as possible and then Naruto was hit with some information from one of his clones.

The other group had been spotted by another patrol which meant they had to move now. Trying to seem casual, he reached up and scratched his elbow with his opposite arm. That was the signal to Sakura that they no longer had time. She must have caught his gesture from the corner of her eye because not a second later she jumped and hit the man with a kick to the chest. Ordinarily, such a kick wouldn't have produced much of an effect, but with her considerable strength backing it the man was sent flying backwards.

Rushing through the gate, Naruto was already forming the familiar seal to make shadow clones when they came up short as there was another man not ten feet away finishing his own Jutsu. Both of them recognized the hand sign the man stopped on and they immediately reversed course, diving to get past the gate ahead of the fireball.

He landed on the stone steps while Sakura hit the comparatively soft dirt. Naruto rolled over just in time to see the flames shoot out from the gates and over the wall itself. The blonde felt as if he was standing next to a furnace, raising his hands in front of his face he made the familiar sign again. Clones appeared all around him and the second the flames started to recede they jumped over the wall. Several were taken out by fireballs, but the golden horde had numbers on its side.

Rolling backwards on to his feet, he followed Sakura back through the gate. They headed for the shrine as his clones broke into two groups. The first and smaller group attacked the man who had used the fire Jutsu. Several were attacking at once, but for now he was holding them off, even if he was unable to use a Jutsu. The larger group was heading for the dorm building, but just as they reached it something exploded out from the wall.

Naruto's doppelgangers had been so tightly packed that it wasn't until the thing had ripped its way through several of them that the original was able to see what it was.

"A bull," Naruto muttered along with about a half-dozen of his clones.

He had only seen a bull at a distance before so he had no idea if this thing was larger than the typical bull, but he was pretty sure normal bulls didn't wear armor and had their hooves and horns covered in gold. The bull's appearance had drawn most of the clone's attention and when a hail of various projectiles emerged from the gap in the building they were easy pickings.

He brought his hands up to make more clones, but that was what the bull was looking for and Naruto found himself facing down two thousand pounds of hamburger. He dodged to his right, the ground shaking as the bull went past. Rolling to his feet, the bull pivoted and lowering his head charged again. This time it barely missed his arm and he decided he needed to go for higher ground. Dodging again, his feet planted against the wall and using his chakra, he ran up the side before perching himself on top.

The bull made an aborted run at the wall, but seemed to quickly lose interest. Naruto spared a glance over the courtyard which had become a confusing melee. The rest of his team had arrived sometime when he had been dodging the glorified hamburger. Most had broken down into one-on-one battles with the few remaining clones of his making general nuisances of themselves.

Summoning another clone, he created a Rasengan and jumped down trying to catch the bull before it could pick another target. For being the student of the Toad Sage, he had forgotten one critical piece of information. Summon creatures had a higher level of intelligence than any normal animal. Just before he was about to make contact the bull kicked its hind legs into the air catching him in the stomach and flinging him against the wall with an audible crack.

He slumped to the ground and looked up just in time to see the bull coming at him again, his horns lowered. Naruto rolled away just as the bull gouged the ground with its horns. This time he landed in a puddle, soaking his shirt with muddy water. The bull came at him again trying to skewer him with its horns. As long as he stayed close to the wall the bull wouldn't pick up any speed, but they were quickly approaching a corner.

His shirt was starting to rise up on him when inspiration struck. The next time he scooted back to avoid the horn, he simultaneously reached back and pulled his shirt off flinging it at the bull's head. His aim was accurate and his shirt covered both of the summons' eyes. The bull shook his head back and forth, but the shirt stuck to him like glue.

Naruto kicked its snout which just enraged it. Rolling away from the wall he shouted, "You're going to be dinner!"

It charged again, but this time Naruto just sidestepped the bull and it continued to charge until it collided head-on into the wall before slumping to the ground and disappearing into a puff of smoke. Before he turned away, a piece of the wall fell off and he found out that the wall was reinforced.

While he had been playing with the bull the fight had turned in their favor. Sakura and Neji finished the last of the fake monks off while his two remaining clone self-destructed. In the distance he heard a faint explosion and received the memories from another one of his clones. The second force had apparently overwhelmed the patrol that had found them, but one of them had managed to get back to the village to raise the alert. They had reached the village and had managed to partially collapse a fairly large building under construction and were preparing for the counterattack.

Jogging over to pick up his shirt, he joined the others to give them his brief report. Everyone's eyes turned to Jin. The older ninja said nothing and just headed towards the shrine. They followed as the man pulled open the two doors. Naruto hadn't spent much time in shrines in general and this one didn't impress him.

There was a small stone statue on a stone platform. Jin knelt and made slow, deliberate hand signs. Then, with a loud crack, the stone slab seemed to collapse into the hollow below.

Naruto tilted his head and said quietly to Kakashi, "What jutsu was that?

Kakashi lowered his Hitai-ate. "Not sure. It was lightning based and seemed to superheat the water molecules inside the stone. Nice move for sabotage." He straightened from the wall he had been leaning on and said, "Well, let's go."

They descended down the staircase.

* * *

Authors note: Sorry for the long delay.


	27. Assassination

There are times when your actions dictate your circumstances and other times circumstances dictate your actions.

-The Burden of Command

* * *

Musashi was reading when he heard an explosion in the distance. A second later he was pressing himself against the far wall, not remembering crossing the room. Inching forward he peered out over the balcony, but with the room illuminated behind him, it was difficult to see into the darkness outside. After a second he activated his Kekkei Genkai and then could see the damage. One of the construction sites on the far end of the lake had imploded. As he watched, several small fires seemed to burst into existence simultaneously. The village was under attack.

By whom, was another question. From what little information he gathered about the rebels, they seemed to be strong enough to hold on to the former Amegakure, but not strong enough to be an actual threat. Kusa was a possibility, but would they risk any of their forces right now? They should be aware they're under attack on two fronts and their numbers were not that large to begin with. That left Konoha as the only feasible attacker.

They must have found the new Amegakure, and pretty fast if they hadn't known about the new location before the war. He didn't like that idea, it implied his village's intelligence was inferior. Whatever Konoha had known beforehand, though, this wasn't going to be some small raid. That attack was either meant to be a diversion or an opening move in a general attack. Either way, where he was currently would definitely be a high-value target.

Ame and Iwa were currently allies, but it would be to his village's benefit if he lived and reported what happened here than dying in some weak attempt to help an ally. His eyes drifted to his room's door.

* * *

The passageway under the mountain was a lot longer than Naruto thought it would be. The entrance had quickly faded away and there was no longer any light. Neji had taken the lead and was using his Byakugan to scan ahead for traps. Fortunately, the tunnel itself was featureless, just one smooth piece of rock. It allowed them to run without the use of flashlights as long as they kept one hand on the wall.

The wall itself had the same smoothness as river stones, which he guessed was a clue to its formation. Not that he could actually see anything to confirm his suspicion. It was weird not to be able to see the wall he was touching and it was downright creepy only hearing the sounds of his teammate's feet slapping against the rock.

"Staircase."

Neji's voice pierced the darkness as a dim light appeared, signifying the end of the passageway. The six man team had spread out over about fifty feet and it took a few seconds for them to bunch up in the small pool of light at the bottom of the stairs. Once they were all there the light was focused up the stairs and onto the door.

"It's locked," he commented into the silence as the flashlight played along too bulky latches.

"No, it's not," Kurenai spoke up after a moment "they just look that way. It's a simple, but effective Genjutsu." She started to walk up the stairs and continued her explanation over her shoulder. "You see a lock and obviously you think it's locked because that's what you're expecting to see. So you either spend several minutes trying to pick a lock that is already unlocked or you just blow away the door and announce your presence to everyone when you could just as easily open it."

Her dramatic explanation was somewhat ruined by the fact that there was a wooden panel right behind the door.

* * *

Musashi left his room with no real plan. He just knew this building would be a target and he didn't want to feel like a caged animal when the forest was on fire. Using his Kekkei Genkai he was able to navigate the unfamiliar corridors and avoid the one other person he almost came across. Security seemed to be surprisingly light given Hanzo's general paranoia, he thought there'd be more of it. Then again, they were already standing in a fortress.

Suddenly there was a gentle rumble more felt than heard. Looking through the floor he could see a fight or at least the ends of one. The fact that the enemy already penetrated this far was worrisome, but at least they were unlikely to bring the building down around themselves. It seemed they were going directly for Hanzo. Cut off the head and the body dies, he mused to himself. As a precaution, he produced some of his mist to conceal his presence.

* * *

Naruto sent the last of the bodyguards flying across the room and into the far wall. The man slumped to the ground like a puppet that had just had its strings cut. Stepping over another guard he had dispatched, he automatically did a quick headcount to see the team was still intact.

Apparently someone had foreseen the possibility of the emergency exit being used for an emergency entrance and had built a room for the express purpose of laying an ambush. With Neji on their side the ambush had failed miserably. The ensuing fight had been quick and dirty with one of the guard using an Exploding Note in a last-ditch attempt to bring the ceiling down on them.

"Neji is there anyone else?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto, like everyone else turned towards the youngest Jonin as he reactivated his Byakugan. After a few seconds he said, "There are two people. I can't tell which ones the target."

Two, Naruto thought, did that mean one more guard and Hanzo or was one of them just a cook? Fighting a ninja was one thing, but he didn't want any civilians to get hurt. The solution to the problem quickly came to him. "I can send up two clones. Neji can direct them and they can report back."

"Sounds like a plan," Kakashi said as Naruto raised his hands. A second later there was the distinctive sound of air being displaced as the two clones came into existence.

Up until now they've avoided using radios, but there was no longer a point concealing their presence. The rebels had told them that Hanzo wouldn't receive reinforcements or at least not immediately, but none of them wanted to press their luck. Time was their enemy so each of the clones used the radio to receive directions.

The first clone reached its target and quickly destroyed itself. Its memories came to him more clear and vivid than any oral report. Plain twisting corridors which ended in a kitchen and the target turned out to be a cook. The second clone's job was not as easy. Neji couldn't really see the layout of the building from this angle and the clone was having a hard time finding a door.

Once it did find the door, though, it didn't live very long. The memories Naruto received were interesting. Two wooden doors seemed to be the only entry point and they were a lot heavier than they first appeared. The clone had cracked one open and saw that it lead to a courtyard. The doors were thick and the clone ended up just poking his head around and almost immediately it was slammed shut by a jet of water. However, the last image the clone saw matched the photo of Hanzo.

"He's there," Naruto relayed before grimacing and adding "there's only one entrance and he will be expecting us."

"Well, no one ever said this would be easy." Kakashi added in a cheerful manner. "Naruto lead the way."

* * *

This time it was Naruto leading the way, his clone's memories providing the directions as they made the corridors familiar. Then they were at the two heavy wooden doors and Neji confirmed that the man had made no effort to move yet. That meant he was confident, and considering how the diversionary attack was going, Naruto thought he was justified in that belief. He received another memory from one of his clones and the news was bad. They weren't yet surrounded, but had been pushed out of the village. He related the news even though there was nothing they could do about it.

"Ready," Sakura said standing in front of the two wooden doors after placing the last of the Exploding Note.

"Everyone in position," Kakashi said waiting for each of them to check in, in descending order down the corridor. Then there was a crackling as he prepared his Chidori before he said, "Go."

The Exploding Note went off, destroying the hinges, but the doors were so heavy that they just stood there until Sakura shoved them forward as if there had all the weight of a sheet of paper. She quickly got out of the way of Kakashi who used the flying doors as cover. Naruto followed him, creating clones to make more targets. Kurenai was close on his heels hoping to catch Hanzo in a Genjutsu. The rest of the team followed behind, planning to encircle the target.

The doors smashed against the far wall just as Kakashi reached Hanzo. Naruto had never seen the Chidori miss someone before, but Hanzo managed to dodge it if only by a hair's breath. Kakashi's momentum carried him well past his target before he pivoted back for a second attempt. By then Hanzo had jumped away, landing in a crouch on a stone patio.

Hanzo's landing was perfectly planned and before anyone could do anything, he pulled on a chain that had been concealed by one of the rocks. Naruto heard the sound of metal sliding against stone and then there was a loud clang. Looking over his shoulder he saw a metal slab covering the spot where the doors had been a moment ago. He had enough time to realize that this was a trap when a jet of water knocked him to the ground.

For a second he was pinned against the ground, his skin feeling like it was being ripped off his body as his mouth filled with mud. Fortunately, mud is also slippery and the force of the water pushed him out of the way and he was able to roll to his feet. He looked around, seeing six miniature waterfalls filling the courtyard. The water was tearing up the ground, turning it into a muddy mess and it was already ankle deep. Looking up he could see that the water was coming from the very top of the building. The jets of water weren't aimed and it had just been his bad luck to be standing under one when they had been activated.

More importantly, though, he couldn't see Hanzo. His radio had been knocked out of his ear when he fell and there was no chance of him finding it now. The water was too choppy to stand on and he moved away from the artificial waterfall thundering in his ears. The mud resisted every step and that made him remember something. Hanzo excelled at underwater combat and he had set this trap so the terrain would favor him.

Well, Naruto thought, he couldn't let that happen. Neji had said that the walls were too thick to bring down, but he would be willing to bet the metal slab wasn't. He started towards the door as fast as the mud would allow. The further he was able to get away from the waterfall, the more stable it became and he was able to climb on top of the water.

Creating a clone, he prepared a Rasengan only to duck as something went flying over his head. His clone was not as lucky. Turning, he saw Hanzo near the wall and preparing another attack. Drawing a trio of kunai, he threw the first one at the man's left shoulder, forcing him to dodge right towards the wall. He aimed the second kunai at his left leg and channeled chakra into his own legs to increase his speed before launching himself where his target would be. His kunai plunged into Hanzo's chest only to have the body dispersed into water as his momentum carried him through where the water clone had just stood.

Spinning around, he put his back against the wall only to see there were now several clones of Hanzo. Most of them seemed to be engaged in one-on-one battles, but others were climbing the walls. The water was still rising. He was about to make another run at the metal wall when he heard a loud pop above him. Naruto looked up just in time to see a large lizard like creature looking down at him as his mouth started to open. His mind provided the word salamander a second before its tongue shot out.

Throwing himself to the side, he managed to avoid the tongue although he could feel saliva splatter onto him. Landing, he jumped backwards and grabbed a smoke bomb from his weapons pouch. Crushing it in his hand, he used the smoke to cover his retreat, ignoring the sting. Deciding there was more than enough enemies to go around, he headed for one of the clones of Hanzo.

* * *

Musashi had watched many battles. Usually, he waited for a moment where some intervention on his part would finish it, but this time he found he didn't much care about the outcome. Maybe it was the specter of a long war looming that has already cost him one of his sons that left him feeling this way.

What would happen if Hanzo was killed here? Clearly, Konoha had an idea. Were they thinking this might knock them out of the war? Break the alliance between Ame and Iwa? He wasn't exactly sure, but Hanzo's death would certainly have negative consequences for Iwa, his adopted village. Fight now or die slowly, those had been the village's options. Well, the third option had been to adopt changes to the village, but the Clan Council had stonewalled those efforts.

What would the Clan Council do if Hanzo died here and Ame broke the alliance? They had pinned most of their hope for success on a quick, decisive blow, but with the prospect of a long drawn out war, would they want to settle for a negotiated peace? Maybe some of the smaller clans could be persuaded to take such a course. His mind started to analyze what he knew about the various other clans, but he stopped himself, suddenly wary of where that line of thought might take him. Besides, the fight was not going well for Konoha.

* * *

The water had risen to almost cover the metal doors. Still, double teaming Hanzo's clones had proven effective. Naruto had caught the first one off guard and then there had been two of them free to play whack a clone. Now he was closing in on the last one who was fighting Sakura. Coming at the clone from behind, he aimed at its lower back. The kunai, with all of his weight behind it, cut through the watery mass effortlessly as his momentum carried him forward.

With the water still blurring his vision he didn't see the kick that connected to his chest and sent him flying backwards. For a brief second he thought Sakura mustn't have seen his approach, but then he saw several kunai cut through where he would have been to slash harmlessly into the water. Then three of the four Hanzo who had climbed the walls made their move and it became obvious why they had been quiet. Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu, Naruto knew it well. Seeing two as a Genin had been impressive. Seeing three barreling down at him brought on an emotion more akin to fear.

They tore down from the waterspouts and skimmed across the water. Kurenai wasn't fast enough to get out of the way and her leg was caught. The force of the impact sent her flying and she smacked into the wall with a sound Naruto swore he could hear over the sound of the rushing water. He tried to go to her aid, but had to jump back to avoid one Water Dragon only to be nearly hit by another.

It was chaos. Neji was shouting something, but his words were drowned out by all the noise. The water was becoming more and more choppy and Naruto had to divert more of his attention to just stay on top of the water, but he knew that wouldn't last for long. Even if he was able to get to a wall, he would be an easy target for one of the Water Dragons. For a second, he was at a complete loss what to do as the waves started to go higher and higher.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jin struggling to stay on top of the water surface. Then almost as if it was a ghostly specter, something jumped out of the water from behind the man. Naruto saw the momentary surprise on the man's face a second before he recognized the specter as Hanzo himself. A second later both of them disappeared beneath the surface.

Everything clicked in a heartbeat as the extent of the trap became clear. Hanzo had changed the terrain to suit him. Having to walk on the water diverted their attention as did fighting the clones. That had all meant to be a distraction while the clones up top had prepared the Water Dragons and even that had not been the main attack. The same trick he had used on Zabuza had now been used on him. Some of those kunai had probably been aimed at him, but one had to be Hanzo using a simple Henge to reposition himself under the water.

Naruto didn't see a way out of it. He couldn't sacrifice the concentration to form a Rasengan and trying to take out the clones would take too much time. They were going to be picked off one by one. Only one option seemed to present itself and he didn't like it. If he summoned a large enough toad it could provide them with shelter, but if it was that big, it could also crush them. Well, possible death beat certain death, Naruto thought as he bit his thumb.

* * *

Author's note: Sorry for the long delay haven't been healthy.


	28. Legends

Morality, philosophy, whatever you want to call it is simply drawing lines in the sand. With the tide of time they are washed away. So why do we bother with such things?

- Madara Uchiha

* * *

Naruto's hand hit the water and a split second later he found himself being propelled into the air. His ability to summon a particular toad had improved greatly over the years. He had discovered there was a lot more to summoning than Jiraiya had ever told him. With the correct skill and familiarity, it was possible to summon one particular toad. He mostly had that skill now, but he had no idea who would be the best in this particular situation. So, for the first time in a long time, he had no idea who he would be summoning.

Before he had time to think, he was suddenly higher than the roof. The remnants of the summoning smoke obscured his view. The toad let out a grunt of pain and shifted its body when the Water Dragons crashed into his legs. Naruto couldn't keep his balance and was thrown down. The only thing that prevented him from sliding off completely was his quick channeling of chakra to his hands and feet.

The smoke was dispersing now, and Naruto watched as the toad raised its arms and brought them down on two of the clones. He could make out the coloring of the toad and recognized it as Gamahiro. He had never summoned him, but he had seen Jiraiya do it and he seemed reliable.

The toad shifted under him and grunted in surprise. "I'm stuck." Gamahiro tried to lift himself, his weight started to crush the walls, sending masonry down in large chunks below where they made audible splashes.

"Stop," Naruto shouted, afraid for his teammates still below. He got to his feet, only to duck and roll to avoid a kunai aimed by one of the clones. Before he could get back to his feet, the other clone had jumped and was about to land on top of him.

Naruto rolled over and sprung towards the clone, aiming for a leg to avoid the kunai. He hit it with enough force that it exploded like a water balloon. Before his feet landed back on the toad, something smashed into his back and he was pushed against the toad with rib cracking force. Then, he felt himself being pulled backwards by his Chunin vest. Naruto had just enough time to channel chakra to one of his feet and stick to the toad as his vest was pulled free from him.

For a moment, he dangled upside down and backwards only to see the salamander he had forgotten about swallow his customized vest. Before the salamander could shoot its tongue again, a kunai was thrown from below and exploded in a cloud of smoke. An unconscious grin spread across his face, despite the toad and the falling masonry, they were still alive. Pulling himself up, his ribs screamed as they protested with the effort. Yes, the blonde thought, definitely cracked ribs, if not broken. The damn fox could take his sweet time with bones, too.

Before he could climb back to his feet, he could feel a presence. Rolling before he knew why, a foot smashed down right where his neck had been. Standing, he winced with pain and dodged a kunai before producing one of his own and deflecting the next. Hanzo slashed and Naruto had to retreat, and almost stumbled, forgetting he was still standing on an oversized toad's head. The blonde swiped at some water droplets that hit his face and he realized he was fighting the real Hanzo, an idea hit him.

Sending a quick pulse of chakra through his feet and into the toad, he prepared to jump forward. The flare of chakra had been a dismissal, and with a grunt of annoyance, Gamahiro did just that, disappearing with a puff of smoke and literally dropping the ground out from beneath Hanzo.

Naruto overestimated his jump and he had to grab at the Ame village's leader collar so he wouldn't fly straight over him. He tried to twist around as Hanzo tried to spin away while they fell. Naruto was able to get a good grip and stabbed his kunai into the man's neck a second before they both smacked into the still churning water.

He barely had any time to prepare for the landing and Hanzo was ripped away from him upon impact. Naruto's entire body stung and he tried to swim up, or at least that's what he thought he was doing until he hit the ground. Spinning around, he pushed off the ground and broke the surface, inhaling a much-needed breath just as a small wave almost immediately crashed over him.

It took him a second to spot the body floating several feet away in an expanding pool of darker water which must've been his blood. Another wave lifted him up and he tried to see where the rest of his team was, but couldn't make any of them out in the dark water. He slowly started to kick towards the wall to climb it.

Then he heard Kakashi's voice say, "Grab the wire." There was a small splash in front of him and he felt blindly forward until he felt a wire and wrapped his hand around it. Signaling he had it, he was pulled forward much faster than he could swim at the moment. When he hit the wall, Kakashi asked, "Can you grab the wall with your chakra?"

"Yeah, I can."

"Good."

A second later, the dark, man-made canyon was brilliantly lit by a white light as a flare was set off. It reminded Naruto of the diversionary force. During the fight, he had closed himself off to the clones, and now he tried to open himself back up to them. He waited a moment, wondering if there was any left and then he had it. The diversionary force had been chopped up pretty badly, but at least they had seen the flare, as had the rest of the village.

He felt a pull, as if from a new current and he turned to see Sakura surface. It took him a second to realize that she must have done something with that metal slab. Maybe she had pushed it back up or smashed through it. Knowing her, anything was possible. That reminded him, they were supposed to get out of here fast. Then he thought it couldn't be good that it took him that long to remember that.

* * *

And that is how a legend dies, Musashi thought. Hanzo had been a ninja widely known for his ability to plan many moves ahead of his opponents, and he had been outmaneuvered. There was irony in that. He had just about every advantage, and he had been out done. The legend that had fought three of the strongest ninjas of their time to a standstill had died with a whimper, or had a new legend been born?

The question was worth giving thought, too. Tactically, he should attack now. If none of the assassins made it back to report, Hanzo's death could be covered up for at least a brief time. The flare could be written off as a trick by Hanzo. It would be what was best for his village, and yet he stayed where he was.

Some would consider his inaction treason, but as he watched them pick up their dead he wondered what his chances really would be. Obviously, they believed there were no threats around and he could probably cut one down before using his mist. He would have to go for the blonde, the one that killed Hanzo. The teen was coming down from a battle high, but probably still the most dangerous.

He dismissed the academic exercise for what it was. At best, it would buy a few days and there was no way of telling which way Ame would go. Whoever Hanzo's successor would be, he would continue the alliance or break it. The change of leader would be the perfect excuse to act however they wish. Iwa would continue to fight either way, but what were their chances of winning? Their strategy had relied on a quick victory over Leaf. A long war, even with Ame's assistance, would be nothing more than a standstill.

Then, a thought occurred to him. The Clan Council would be forced to accept change. Or at least they should, but would they see reason? Perhaps they would or perhaps not. People acted in what they perceived as their best interest. For now, the status quo was best for the clans, so the question was, would the clans give anything up for the sake of the village?

He frowned in thought. There were too many variables, but something told him he should inform the Tsuchikage before the council. So, he let the assassins leave unmolested before making his own way out of the village.

* * *

There were times when Madara Uchiha felt all of his years. Sitting on an overturned tree next to a newly formed lake was one of those times. The Three Tails had virtually no intelligence, and conversely, was harder to control than the Nine Tails had been. Genjutsu didn't work on simpleminded animals.

Still, there was some satisfaction in capturing this particular beast. It had always irked him that, in the end, Yagura had managed to break free of his genjutsu and release the demon within him. It had been his first warning that his strength was weakening.

He almost didn't notice Zetsu approach, and he acknowledged, if only to himself, that perhaps the battle had taken more out of him than he had first thought. He had enough time to straighten as the half man, half plant started to rise, he said, "What's wrong?"

"Hanzo has been assassinated. There's some evidence to suggest the nine tails Jinchuuriki was involved."

Madara didn't flinch. "What of his successor?"

"From what I've gathered, there are three candidates, but none favoring the alliance with Iwa."

Madara closed his ancient eyes, and when he reopened them they were older than ever, but lacked anger. "Inform Kakuzu and Sasori they are to move and capture the two tail Jinchuuriki. Tell them not to seal their target in the scroll though. Instead, they are to proceed to our hideout in Fire Country and to make sure that they're followed."

"They will ask why." Zetsu

The old Uchiha smiled. "They will be bait. You are to shadow them and take out any forces from Kumo that might try and retake the hostage, but make sure there's someone to report back. Once they enter Fire Country, Kumo will have to either request assistance or at least permission from Konoha. If it's timed correctly, the nine tails and anyone he's traveling with would be the closest. If that happens, the three of you are to capture him."

"And if it's not?"

Madara shrugged. "No matter. Kumo won't violate Fire Country's territory while they're at war and will probably have to negotiate some sort of quick alliance. Three great villages against one would bring most villages to the negotiation table with nothing else. They may even think they're getting the better part of the deal.

"And what will you be doing?" Zetsu questioned

Madara stood. "As long as the host for the One Tail still lives, he will recover all of his chakra. So, we don't really need what we took. I'm going to capture the Eight Tails. Then, I am going to release the chakra from the One Tail and destroy the village. As the newest combatant in the war, their distraction will be blamed on Iwa. Such power could only come from some sort of forbidden weapons, and the other villages will be forced to turn on Iwa." He didn't need to add that Earth Country had the best geological defenses and any assault on the country would be costly.

"Keep them fighting." Zetsu echoed from their previous talk.

"And when the world is weary of war, we will make our appearance, the peace bringers."

"Understood," Zetsu said.

* * *

Tsunade was buried in her paperwork. Given the current situation, this wasn't unusual. Intelligence reports were coming in every few hours, some from her people and some from allies. Not that there was much in way of troop movement. Minus the initial incursion from Iwa, Kusa and Ame were mostly having small border clashes.

After Iwa's failed attack, it wasn't too surprising they were staying quiet for now. Small groups of ninjas could respond quickly, but in significant numbers they lost their speed. Of course, if Ame was knocked out of the war, Iwa would then have to worry about getting their forces across either now neutral or hostile land. With any luck, they would either have to push their way through Kusa or Ame. As always, her thoughts lead right back to the assassination that could be under way right now. If all went well, Iwa could be forced to the negotiation table, but when did things always go well.

The knock on her door was a relief and she covered the classified document before saying, "Come in."

Shizune entered, her expression a grim visage. "I think you need to hear this,Lady Tsunade. I'm just about to finish my report on the autopsy of Itachi Uchiha, and I've come across some worrying details."

"More worrying than the fact his eyes are missing?" Tsunade said, leaning back in her chair. There was a point when bad news just stopped to matter, and she reached that point days ago. When Shizune did not even snap at her to be serious, she straightened in her chair. "What is it?"

"Well, as you know recovering information from a body is extremely difficult. Itachi Uchiha was suffering from a form of Multiple sclerosis. It wasn't too advanced but should have been causing him considerable pain. His mental instability seems to be unrelated, though."

"Shizune, I can read the report. What's the problem?"

Her assistant gave her a long, suffering look that she was all too familiar with. "Because of those two factors, the information we can attain is extremely limited. Most of his recent memories are inaccessible. So, I attempted to fill in some of the gaps we have about him. I started with the simple question, when did he decide to betray the village?"

"And," Tsunade prompted after a pause.

Shizune shook her head slowly. "As far as I was able to determine, he believes he never did."

If Tsunade had to pinpoint a weakness in her medical knowledge it would be in the aspect of the human mind. Sure, there was a chemical balance to be maintained and that was simple enough to understand, but beyond that it became a little fuzzy, in her opinion. In her youth, when she had read about psychology, it seemed too bizarre. Some of it made sense, but a lot of the stuff, particularly dream interpretation, just didn't seem to make sense to her. Still, she knew something about it.

"The insane can build elaborate fantasies for themselves. What's the problem?"

Shizune bit her lower lip, a rare sign of nervousness when discussing medical matters for her. "I am unable to pinpoint when exactly Itachi Uchiha lost contact with reality."

It clicked for the Hokage then. Sasuke, as his clan's head, had the right to receive a non-redacted report on the autopsy. If Itachi believed he never betrayed the village, and they can't say when he lost his mind, then what would Sasuke think? Would he think his clan had been killed under orders from the village and Itachi had gone undercover for them or something like that?

It seemed unlikely, but what Shizune wasn't aware of was the meeting Sasuke had with that mysterious man. If she didn't okay that meeting now, it could just add fuel to the fire. Small doubts could lead to bigger ones. Unanswered questions were like untreated cuts, they could fester. "Have you finished your report yet?"

"No, Lady Tsunade. I wanted to run this past you first."

She nodded and started to rub her temple in an attempt to ward off a headache. "Finish your report. Immediately classify it. I'll have Sasuke read it here and prep him with some information before hand."

"I'll finish the report as fast as possible then." Without waiting to be dismissed, Shizune turned and left.

She tried to go back to work, but her mind kept going back to the mysterious problem of Itachi. When there was another knock at her door, she snapped, "What is it now Shizune!"

There was a moment of silence, and then a distinctively male voice said, "A message just came in."

She sighed and said, "Come in."

The message only had one word, 'Break.' She smiled. Break, short for Storm Break. The assassination of Hanzo had been a success.

* * *

Authors note: Sorry for the long delays. Updates will be sporadic due to ill health.


	29. Kidnapped

War and peace have the same mother, ambition.

-Proverb from Kirigakure

* * *

Snow always lingered in Kumogakure. Most years, small piles could linger even as the trees started to bud with new life. This year an unexpected storm had pushed up from the south and the brief rain had melted most of the snow, resulting in an unusually thick fog. The Raikage had ordered the guards doubled much to the annoyance of those assigned to the additional duty.

For the four children in the courtyard of the Nii estate, the fog was simply an added bonus. It was just enough to obscure one end of the courtyard from the other which made their invented game just that little extra fun. They ran back and forth throwing, catching and intercepting a ball. The tallest, a girl, broke away and threw the ball, causing half of them to cheer.

"You stepped over the line." The youngest boy of the group called out as he pointed his finger at a line of chalk on the stone.

"No I didn't, Masato."

"Yes you did, Etsuko. I saw you." Masato crossed his arms, fully expecting his say so to win the argument.

"Come on, do you have to argue. It's just one point." Etsuko's teammate, Isas, and the only other male in the group said trying to be the peacemaker.

Etsuko turned to the other girl, who was also her sister, "What do you think, Yoshi?"

Masato turned to his teammate. "Yeah, what do you think?"

Yoshi, not wanting to decide between her sister and her friend, cast her brown eyes down and scuffed at the ground with her foot. After second she said, "I was guarding Isas, didn't see the throw."

Masato, who was used to getting his way, flushed with anger. "Fine." He turned and walked over to pick up the ball. "I'm going to my room," and with that he walked off.

Masato was the current container for the Two-Tailed Demon Cat and the Nii family's most important member. Not having any one parent, every adult in the Clan gave him some attention. Not getting it from one adult simply meant he turned to another and was thoroughly spoiled. Picking up his ball and going to his room wasn't uncommon when he didn't get his way, especially when he was right.

Rounding the corner, he bumped into someone so hard that he stepped backwards so he wouldn't fall. He glared up at the person he had bumped into and suddenly felt a shiver of fear as he stared up at pupil-less eyes. Masato's mind realized that a stranger this far into the compound wasn't right and opened his mouth to scream, but before he could make a sound a foot connected with his stomach and he was sent flying backwards and slammed against a wall.

Darkness started to shrink his vision, but he tried to push it back even as he gasped for air. Then he felt something. At first it was just a vague feeling, but as the darkness started to fill his vision it almost became a voice. It promised him power and that was what he needed. In fear, he gave into the voice which he only belatedly recognized as the Two-Tailed Monster Cat, the beast from his nightmares.

Now, though, it was the closest thing to a friend he had. He felt strength wash through his body and thoughts filled his head that were not his. He wanted to rip these intruders apart, rend them limb from limb. The small part of his mind that was still wholly his own was terrified by the gruesome thoughts. That did not stop him from climbing to his feet as chakra becoming visible around his body.

His teeth elongated and fingers became claws as he prepared to leap forward and rip the intruder's throat out. The man stepped aside, revealing a teenager behind him. Masato jumped forward, not caring who his first victim was. As he was in mid-leap, something shot out of the teen's chest and hit him. For the second time that day he slammed into a wall, but this time he could feel his chakra, which was still a new sensation to him, being drained. When the darkness came this time, he couldn't stop it.

Kakuzu watched the boy for a few seconds even after he ceased to struggle, half expecting him to come back with a second wind. When it didn't happen, he turned to his partner and said, "Your contraption works."

Sasori, in his teenage body, walked past the man and studied the boy for a second. "It's not my contraption. I merely modified an existing technology Yukigakure was all too happy to get rid of during the samurai uprising. I doubt it would work on anyone with more chakra experience than this boy."

Kakuzu stepped forward and picked up the captive. "Then luck has broken our way today."

"If he had been a few years older, he could've put up enough of a fight to alert the whole village," Sasori commented as he turned. "Let's get going, I hate keeping people waiting."

"Wouldn't mind killing a few more people, I still need a heart with an affinity for water."

"When they discover the bodies and the boy missing I'm sure you'll have enough chance to find one," Sasori said stepping over the body of a teenager as he made his way back down the hallway.

* * *

Sasuke had sat and listened to Tsunade's briefing. Most of the finer points about medical Jutsu were well over his head. The key points did not go over his head, however. He would not learn why Itachi had massacred his family. The knowledge that his brother had been sick came as a slight surprise, but the news of mental deterioration did not. Each time he had seen his brother since the massacre was burned into his mind and it was easy to see his neat appearance become disheveled.

Not that he hadn't suspected on some level. Itachi had not even attempted a genjutsu during their last fight. Those had always been his strong suit, but they required some intelligence to pull off. As he read the report on his brother's status, realization dawned on him that he had been fighting a shadow of a man. That was a little disheartening. It didn't spark anger in him, though. Where had all his rage gone?

Finishing the report, he dropped it into his lap, "Not exactly satisfying."

The Hokage's expression remained carefully neutral. "The best we could do was done. Recovering memories is more of an art form than anything else."

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgment and changed the subject. "What about the meeting?"

"It's a trap," Tsunade said bluntly.

"Most likely, but we know it is a trap and so we can use it," of course he knew that could be an endless cycle, but they already knew that.

She let out a long sigh and leaned back in her chair. "What do you know of the organization your brother was a part of?"

He shrugged. "He was part of a small organization made up of S-ranked missing Ninjas. Their goals are not known, although I couldn't imagine they are good for any hidden village. They also seem to have some interest in Naruto from a young age."

"And you've never been curious about that last fact?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No one ever told me. Besides, the left hand doesn't need to know what the right hand is doing."

The Hokage tilted her head back and let out one short, high-pitched laugh. "I don't think I've heard that quoted outside of the academy." Partially swinging around in her chair, she stared out the window for a second. "The trouble is we're in a difficult situation. The meeting is about three weeks away, but in order to successfully set up an ambush we need to scout the area. I'm not sure if I can sacrifice the necessary..."

He raised his arm still in the cast, silencing her. "I'm not good for combat, but I can scout. Let me borrow Kado and the rest of his team and that should be more than enough. Well, unless you really need those three."

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and seemed to consider. "Three days. Can you do it in that time frame?"

Sasuke resisted the urge to smile. He was confident he could get there and back in three days with enough time to scout the place, but he would really have to push them. "I believe that's doable. If there's nothing else, could you write that order up and I will give it to Kado to pass on to the other two."

The Hokage leaned forward and produced a pad of forms from her desk drawers. With a pen in hand, her hands flew across with the nimbleness that reminded Sasuke she was a gifted medical-nin. Ripping free a piece of paper, she held it out to him. When he reached to take it she held on to the paper. He glanced at her and met her penetrating gaze. "Expect a trap everywhere."

"I will."

Taking the paper, Sasuke stood and left the office and chose to walk the long way home. He tried to wrap his head around the fact that his clan had been most likely wiped out by a madman. Why were things with his brother always so complicated? He had been an idle, and obstacle, a target and now what? A victim? Possibly, but if that was true why had he chased him all these years. It bothered him that he might have sought vengeance on his brother, and for all these years, he may not have understand why.

No answers came to him by the time he arrived home. Kado was waiting to ambush him in the kitchen, expecting to talk. Sasuke waved the piece of paper at him. "Three days. Travel light, full combat gear. Tell the others, right away." He pushed past the younger boy, ignoring his questioning gaze and retired to his room to lie on his bed.

For the first time he found himself hoping that the "unadulterated truth" that the mysterious man had promised about his brother proved to be true, or at least restore some sort of balance to the equation. After all, the man had seemed to be aware that Itachi was no longer capable of producing Genjutsu. Maybe he was even the cause of his brother's insanity. Sasuke liked that idea.

* * *

ANBU standard five-man unit, a little more than three miles behind Sasori and Kakuzu Zetsu observed. He had been aware of them on some level, but until they were this close he could only vaguely sense them. They were unspectacular when it came to their chakra. They were either an advanced unit or Kumo was letting their standard fall.

He waited and observed. The tracker must be following the captive's chakra signature. Sasori and Kakuzu were supposed to be followed, but they had been laying false trails so it would not look too easy. This group followed unhesitatingly and indeed didn't seem to stick very close to the trail at all. His orders were to allow one of the men to survive so he could report back. The tracker would be best for that role, given their mission. Sasori and Kakuzu were pretty close to the coast, but not close enough to the Fire Country border to make it obvious they were going to cross.

When the unit had closed to within a mile, he started to spread his spores. As that went off without a problem he saw no reason to alert Sasori and Kakuzu. The spores sprouted and started to devour the chakra of their hosts. Of the four attacked only one produced a countermeasure. He must've been the Med-nin to be carrying an antifungal powder.

After the ninja destroyed the spores growing on him, he looked at his other three companions who were already dead and retreated with his other teammate. Zetsu decided to let him live and he moved in to claim his meal.

The two Kumogakure ninjas pulled back a half a mile before the older of the two stopped and demanded, "What was that?"

"Some sort of spore attack. An antifungal fungal worked on it. You didn't sense them?"

"I was tracking Masato. If those spores had any chakra signature it was too subtle for me. The only question I have now is why were we left alive? The others were dispatched quickly enough."

"We weren't," the younger corrected. "If I wasn't caring so much of the antifungal powder I would've died to. You are untouched, however."

"True, but why? They could have easily killed me."

The two fell silent for a second before the younger spoke up again. "They want us to follow them. They must be heading to the Fire Country. If we pursue them it could be considered an act of war."

"Not following your logic. Where's the advantage for them?"

The younger shook his head. "I just see what they're doing, I don't know why."

"All right, for now it doesn't matter. I'm going to continue to follow them, but staying on their left with the ocean on their other side. Send a bird back with an update and request for more reinforcements. When the trailing unit catches up, stay with them if they enter the Fire Country I'll wait at the border."

"Understood."

* * *

Konoha was unusually bright as night fell. With the current state of things, the village was taking extra security precautions and the lighting of the village had become one of them. Some nights, extra lights were brought out and turned on to illuminate the outside of the defensive wall and any other vital areas of the village. Other nights, all lights were extinguished and the village became as dark as the forest. It provided a variable to anyone trying to infiltrate the village. Tsunade wasn't even aware of the schedule, having delegated it.

Reading one last report, she stood and stretched her back before leaving her office. She was halfway down the hallway when she heard running footsteps. Stepping to the side to allow the runner to pass, she wasn't surprised when they stopped in front of her and held out a small piece of paper folded over itself several times and sealed with the mark of a Kage.

"An emergency message from Kumogakure," the woman, who Tsunade now recognized as one of the decoders, said, "They're requesting an immediate response."

Frowning, she took the paper back to her office and placed it on the desk before breaking the seal. The paper was blank but she tapped each corner, infusing the paper with a little chakra, just like she would an Exploding Note. The text slowly became visible.

An individual from Kumogakure was abducted by the criminal organization Akatsuki. This offense is intolerable and units are in pursuit. According to our scouts, their destination seems to be somewhere within the Fire Country. Kumogakure does not believe that Konohagakure had anything to do with this incident. With recognition of current affairs, we request permission to enter the Fire Country to continue the rescue effort and hunt down these criminals. Permission and any forthcoming assistance would be appreciated. If permission is granted our forces should rendezvous at the Sakura Bridge. A successful endeavor would require reciprocal aid.

Tsunade read the message through three times. It was fairly subtle considering it was coming from Kumogakure. They weren't implying they were complicit in this abduction, and they were even requesting permission to cross the border, something she couldn't physically stop them doing at this moment. There was the implied threat of course, followed by the promise of reciprocal aid, odd wording. Were they giving her a chance to name her terms? Even a temporary alliance with Kumo might be just enough to force Iwa to the negotiating tables and end the war.

Leaving the politics aside for a moment, she considered the layout of her forces. The Sakura Bridge was in the north and at least a two-day journey. She had chosen to keep most of the village marshal strength in the village, although a few ANBU units had been dispatched to various locations. Unfortunately, few were any significantly closer than the village itself was. There was, of course, the assassination squad whose current location wasn't known. Would Kakashi be up for another mission, and what of sending Naruto into direct battle against Akatsuki?

He is not a child, a small voice reminded her. You just sent him on an assassination mission, and if he's going to fight the Akatsuki, it would be better for him to be the aggressor than them. Besides, Kakashi would make the decision if his team is up for it or not.

That decided, she picked out three ANBU units that at least had a chance of reaching the destination before someone dispatched from the village. She knew she should be consulting with Shikaku, but time is a factor here. When she sent out the messages, she also sent an alert for him to be awoken from his precious sleep. They would have to send at least one team from the village, even if it was unlikely they would get there in time.

* * *

Author Note: Again I apologize for the long delay in getting a chapter out. On the bright side I have a piece of fan art. Check out my profile to see it.


	30. New Alliance

Trust prompts professionalism. Trust is slowly built through familiarity and consistency. Professionalism allows you to interact with any individual no matter the circumstances. The problem is the idea of professionalism doesn't always mean the same thing. Trust does. So, look around the room and ask who you trust. You'll be working together so everyone here should be able to trust you and you them. If you come up short, you have something to work on.

-Excerpt of lectures of the Third Hokage to Academy students

* * *

Sakura glanced up at the night sky and was glad to see all the stars twinkling back at her. They may have crossed the Rain Country border, but weather didn't respect such insubstantial things like borders. In case Ame had been able to muster any pursuit, they had not gone south towards the rebel village or west, which was a straight line for the Fire border. Instead, they had headed north, nearly into Grass before heading west back into their home country.

Sparing a glance back at her sleeping teammates, she had a second of confusion as she came up one short before remembering Kurenai had died on the mission. It was odd, but sometimes death took a while to sink in. Briefly, her thoughts wandered to Kiba and Shino and wondered how they would take the news. They had lost their other teammate years ago and now their old sensei.

One of her teammates started to stir, and in the darkness she couldn't quite remember who was where. A flash of blonde hair in the moonlight revealed his identity. Frowning in concern, she made her way towards him. "Something wrong, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled, white teeth shining brightly. "I'm fine. You want me to take over the rest of the watch for you?"

Sakura frowned, not sure if she should find this gesture sweet or simply irresponsible. "You're hurt, you need to rest."

Naruto slapped his side hard and grinned. "All better."

Without warning, she slipped her hand against his ribs, expecting to find something broken and couldn't understand the complete absence of any injury. "What?"

She felt his hand close over hers and she looked up at him quizzically. "The Fox, he heals me pretty fast most of the time."

Naruto's expression was serious and that just confused her more as her brain attempted to figure it out. Jinchuriki frequently had special abilities because of the demon inside of them. She didn't recall rapid healing being one of them, though. Then, she remembered a mortally wounded Konohamaru and a desperate Naruto. She remembered transferring chakra from one to another and how deep Naruto's reserves had been. Like a bottomless well of chakra. "You heal this fast?"

Naruto nodded and smiled weakly, "A good nap usually puts everything right." His pretend facade of humor crumbled. "Are you okay?"

Sakura shook her head to clear it. Sure Naruto had told her, but hearing it and seeing such a dramatic example were two different things. She tried to figure out how rapid healing could affect someone. "Yeah, I was just thinking about medical stuff. Um, why haven't I heard about it before?"

"Well, I was sort of waiting for the-"

"No," Sakura cut him off, "I meant," she shook her head. "Do you know how scared I was when I was draining chakra from you to put into Konohamaru? If you had told me about this than I," she trailed off. It wouldn't have made a difference. "Take the watch.

He smiled again, a genuine one this time, but then he frowned. "Is that a messenger Hawk?"

Sakura turned to look over her shoulder and it took her a second to spot it. "I think you're right. Wake Kakashi."

* * *

Morning turned to afternoon, and still, Sasuke didn't rest. He knew he should. Resting was important. The problem was Kado. He didn't want to talk to the boy, or more accurately, he didn't want to be asked questions. Unlike his old teammates from Team Seven, who knew when to stop asking questions, especially about his family, Kado would keep pushing. Either Kado had never developed the ability to read his mood or believed it was his family too. Sasuke had to admit, the boy was right in that regard. That was why, despite Sasuke's personal feelings, Kado was with them.

There was a time when he hadn't thought of Kado as a real Uchiha, but it was Kakashi who had dissuaded him from that illusion. Kado was an Uchiha even if they never knew who his father was. The boy may have grown on him, but he didn't always like him. Of course, that line of thought made him realize how stubborn he was being.

Coming to a sudden stop, and without turning around, he said, "Rest ten minutes. Our destination is not far." He strained to hear behind him. It sounded as if one person was sitting down against a tree and then another, but a third didn't follow. Well, he couldn't run from this forever. Scanning the terrain and finding no obvious problems, he took some steps away from the group, knowing who would follow him. Stopping, he leaned against a tree and slid down it as he said, "Kado."

"Sasuke," Kado responded, trying to sound casual. The effect was ruined, though, as he was panting and sweating. "So, I'm guessing your meeting is the reason we're in the middle of nowhere."

"It's not nowhere and sort of." Sasuke gestured for Kado to take a seat. "Itachi was insane. He believed he was serving the village and killed everyone. So there was no way to get any reliable information out of him."

"So, why are we going to this stronghold thing then?" Kado was more curious than accusatory.

Sasuke sighed. "After I fought my brother, a man appeared and told me if I wanted to learn the unadulterated truth about Itachi I should meet him at the old stronghold. The thing is that at the time he seemed to have a Sharingan."

"That's why you had me look up those missing Uchiha," Kado accused loud enough that it drew the other two's attention.

Sasuke glared at them until they looked away. "Yes, that's why I had you look them up. Of course, because of what you told me, I'm convinced I was under a genjutsu. I was pretty weak and it could have been easily done. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to capture this guy, which is why we're scouting this place out."

Kado glared at him, and without saying another word, stood and walked back to the other two. He shook his head at the boy retreating back. That could've gone better.

An hour later they were at the site. Sasuke had them do a perimeter check with Ranmaru looking inwards while they looked outward, searching for any disturbances. They found nothing but animal trails. He ordered his team to do another circle of the perimeter, but again nothing really suspicious. Sasuke, as confident as he could be that the building was deserted, broke down the group into two teams. Kado and Ranmaru would take the top floors and he and Hoshiko would take the lower floors for now.

After checking the ground floor, the two of them descended to the lower-level with flashlights. The first level seemed to be split between a kitchen and some sort of medical facility judging by all the tiles. There were places that looked as if equipment had been bolted to the wall but it was empty now. The next level consisted of a series of small storage rooms. A few of them still had sealed crates of expired medical supplies, weapons and pre-dried food. The most important thing they discovered, though, was that there were only two entrances to the first level. Limited exit points made it unlikely that someone would try to stash additional forces down here.

"So, what did you do to piss him off this time?" Hoshiko spoke up, asking her first non-mission related question since they had split up.

"It's not relevant to the mission." Sasuke replied.

"Like hell. Discord within a team decreases its combat effectiveness. Since we still have to get back to the village, there is still a chance for ambush. Now, I would ask Kado, but he's not here."

Sasuke had never really compared Ino and Hoshiko before, but it was easy to picture Hoshiko as a younger version of how Ino was today. With that realization he could see that neither pulling rank nor just telling her it was none of her business would work. She believed she was in the right and they were too familiar with each other. "He believes I deceived him."

"Did you?" Hoshiko asked.

He opened his mouth to say no, but then considered. "Perhaps from a certain point of view, it could be viewed that way."

"Then apologize. Kado is good like that. You apologize, he forgives."

"Is that what you do?" Sasuke questioned.

He heard the girl stop in her tracks behind him. "Your statement implies that I've ever done anything that requires an apology."

Yeah, Sasuke thought. You're as pure as snow, just like Ino. Poor Kado doesn't stand a chance.

When their sweep was complete, they went back up and met with the other team on the second floor and shared a brief meal as he hadn't allowed them to stop for lunch earlier. They discussed what they found, which wasn't much. It may be a stronghold, but it was definitely not a fort, or not in the way castles were. Then again, this was a place for ninja, and a dense forest definitely had its appeal for a battleground.

Hearing Hoshiko's words, he switched partners, allowing Ranmaru to use his Kekkai Genkai to double-check the lower-level to see what only he could see while he inspected the top level with Kado. Once they started, Sasuke could tell Kado was still angry with him. He didn't say one unnecessary word and a silent Kado was as unnatural as a sad Naruto. "I'm sorry."

"You said something?" Kado asked.

Gritting his teeth, he turned to face Kado. "I'm sorry you feel that I deceived you. It was not my intent."

The younger Uchiha stared back at him and then nodded. "All right, so are you going to tell me what this is all about then?"

Sasuke hesitated. Technically, there wasn't any restrictions on any of the information yet if he was a target, Kado should be aware of it at least. The problem was there was the _truth_ and then the truth. He smirked to himself. Well, perhaps someone should hear an unadulterated truth here. "Show me where you would set up an ambush for someone than we can talk."

* * *

Akatsuki, Naruto thought the one word over and over again as he jumped from branch to branch. That one word meant so much and none of it was good. Now they had grabbed a kid. He wasn't even a ninja. Once Kakashi had told them the contents of the message, there had been no decision to be made for him at least.

"Naruto," Sakura said matching his pace.

Naruto glanced over at Sakura. She had been quiet since the morning's conversation, but then again, they had been on the move since then, too. He couldn't shake the feeling that she was angry with him. "Yeah?"

"You're pulling ahead of everyone, slow down. We're almost there."

Sakura gave him a reassuring smile. He smiled back and nearly missed the next branch. "I have history with these guys."

"Yeah."

Naruto wasn't sure, but Sakura sounded different. Was she upset that he hadn't told her about the healing thing before or was it something else. He spent a minute trying to figure it out and just decided to apologize. "Sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" Sakura asked.

"For whatever I did?" Naruto suggested.

She started "I'm not thinking about you. It's just, well, was I really that bad when I was younger that you didn't think you could trust me? We were teammates."

Naruto tried to remember back but couldn't really think of a clear reason. "I don't know. It's not like it was something I thought about a lot. It just was. I knew some people knew and were fine with it. Others weren't. Still, it's not like I thought about it a lot. I'm just me."

"You're right there," Sakura said lightly.

The rest of the group caught up to them and the conversation died.

There was an hour of daylight left when they reached the Sakura Bridge. The bridge was a few hundred yards in length and a few feet above the river. It was wide enough for two carts to pass each other, but the only thing currently on it was a single person sitting on one of the railings.

"Well, our contacts already here," Kakashi spoke from where he leaned against a tree. "Neji?"

"There are three others in the woods on the opposite bank. They're sitting."

"That's good," Naruto suggested.

"They're letting us approach one of them alone. It's a confident gesture," Kakashi supplied. "Naruto, come with me, Neji and Sakura stay here unless I give the signal or those three make a hostile move. I'm not expecting a trap, but it's always best to play safe with Kumo."

A few minutes later found Naruto two steps behind Kakashi as they started to cross the bridge. It creaked underfoot, drawing the attention of the ninja on the bridge. He wore a white mask, but didn't look intimidating until he called out, "Naruto?"

Naruto paused partly in surprise and partly trying to place the voice, which sounded familiar. "Otonashi?"

The other ninja removed his mask, revealing an older but familiar face. "We really have to stop meeting on missions like this. Is it just the two of you?"

"Sakura is with us and another Jonin. What about you?" Naruto asked.

"There is me and three others. One of them is Shiori so it's almost like our first mission."

The reference to their first meeting brought up mixed emotions. Otonashi and he had met with their respective teams before the samurai uprising. Their first joint mission was to destroy a facility making weapons forbidden by old agreements. They had met up again during the final assault, when just about every village had united, if briefly, to take down a greater foe. They've run into each other a few times since, mostly when their mission paths crossed.

"So, what information have you gathered?" Kakashi asked, redirecting the conversation.

Naruto could read Otonashi well enough to know that this wasn't going to be good. "They used a dense fog to sneak into the village. From there, the intruders killed about a dozen people, not all ninja before grabbing the kid and leaving unobserved. By the time we figured out what happened about two hours had passed. I was on the rapid deployment team that was sent after them. We had someone who could track the kid's chakra, but managed to walk into an ambush. Everyone except for me and the tracker were killed in a strange way."

"How?" Kakashi asked.

Otonashi frowned and spoke slowly, "It was some sort of spore attack I think. They grew rapidly feeding off of our chakra. I came across a fungus that had similar properties about a year ago. However, that time it was a passive defense and worked a lot slower. I don't think there's a connection, but killing the spores are the only way to get rid of them as far as I know. For whatever reason, our tracker didn't get hit by any."

"You never saw them?" Naruto asked.

"Afraid not, and when we looked at the trail, it seemed to indicate there were two people only, but that spore attack wasn't used in the village so they might've been joined by another. Our tracker is still following them, but staying up wind. Maybe he will know more," Otonashi suggested with a shrug. "How do you want to do this? My team has been waiting for you for most of the day, but we weren't really expecting anyone until tomorrow."

"Rest tonight and start early in the morning," Kakashi said.

Naruto opened his mouth to object, but just as quickly shut it. They had time or at least he thought they did. Gaara had been rescued in the middle of the extraction and they may not have even started that yet. Not that it set well with him. He withdrew during the meet and greet when the two teams finally met. There was a reason to know your new teammates abilities, but being from opposite villages there was still some holding back and knowing that just made his mood darker.

Otonashi and Sakura discussed medical stuff and he briefly toyed with the idea of talking to Shiori, but she had cornered Neji. He thought those two would avoid each other with Shiori preferring to use her bow to strike from a distance and Neji being easily able to detect her, but they seemed to find some common ground. Instead of trying to talk to the others, he retreated to the river bank and watched the moonlight play off the water.

"You're not holding up too well," Otonashi said, coming up behind him.

Naruto flinched if only in surprise and answered, "Just annoyed."

"We'll get these bastards. I'm guessing you have a history with them?"

"They've tried to grab me in the past," Naruto supplied. "I think I've told you that."

This time, Otonashi shrugged, "Vaguely. Anyway, if they've reduced themselves to grabbing kids, we'll have rescued him and be eating Ramen this time tomorrow. So, you and Sakura? How did you trick her?"

"What, I didn't." Naruto objected before realizing the joke. "So, you and Shiori still going on or is she threatening to kill you again?"

"Both actually," Otonashi grinned and they fell into an old pattern.


	31. Ambush

Ambushes are difficult to pull off, but are the preferred way to attack even when one outnumbers your enemy. There is always an advantage in being prepared.

-Excerpt from an Introduction to Tactics Konoha Academy handbook

* * *

Naruto awoke early in the morning, grateful that he had mastered the instant sleep jutsu. It was a very useful technique, but if you didn't do it right you had to be slapped awake, and that wasn't a nice way to wake up. Eight strong, they prepared to leave before the sun rose. The trail was easily picked up and they were on their way. There was little talking, but Naruto did notice something.

Otonashi was different somehow. He didn't really act differently, but he had easily slipped into a leadership role for his part of the team at least. Naruto wasn't sure how it worked in Kumo, but he wasn't sure that it was just his ANBU status that allowed him to slip into that role. Otonashi seemed a lot more confident. Still, when they stopped he would check on his teammates and then turn towards him with a smile. Their easy friendship remained the same.

They caught up to the tracker around midday, and just like that, Otonashi relinquished his leadership role. Kakashi and the other man talked as the rest of them hung back waiting. When the two of them turned to face the group Kakashi seemed in a good mood, judging by his eye.

"The good news is they are sticking to a trail. The better news is we are a little ahead of them." Kakashi said.

The masked Kumo ninja took over. "They keep a steady pace and don't stop for breaks. I've been keeping my distance, but I've seen them twice. Each time, the package was being carried by the taller of the two. He appears to still be unconscious."

Naruto opened his mouth but Sakura grabbed his hand, that silenced him. Sparing her a glance, she returned a weak, reassuring smile and squeezed his hand. He squeezed her hand back.

"This is a rescue mission," Kakashi said, pulling Naruto's attention back. "We'll be splitting into two teams. The first team will be myself, Capt. Mamoru," he nodded to his left "Naruto, Otonashi, Sakura and Shiori will be making the initial contact. Sakura, your sole job will be to grab the kid and retreat as fast as possible, and if necessary render any medical assistance as needed to the child."

"Once the secondary team has the package," Capt. Mamoru took over the briefing, "You are to head to Kumo. The Konoha contingent should drop off at the border if there's no sign of pursuit. Understood?"

The group nodded and even Naruto recognized the balance that had been struck. Still, he wished Sakura would be the medic-nin left behind instead of Otonashi.

Unnoticed by all eight ninja, there was somebody listening to their every word. Zetsu had been aware of the tracker the entire time. Being followed was part of the plan as was having Kumo and Konoha joining together. The Nine Tails was unexpected, but certainly not unwanted. The part of him that was listening to the meeting faded away once he had heard enough. This time he really did have to inform Kakuzu and Sasori.

* * *

Neji watched with his Byakugan as the two Akatsuki walked towards the ambush unaware. It was a little disconcerting. It was one thing to lay in ambush or even to be ambushed, but watching from a distance had a sense of morbidity to it. It didn't help that he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was wrong. No matter how far he stretched his field of view, or how hard he looked, there didn't seem to be anything awry.

The Akatsuki members were following a trail a little more substantial than a game trail, which required them to travel in a single file. The short one had an odd chakra system, but that wasn't worrying him. Whatever it was, he was missing it.

As the groups came closer and closer together, he double checked to make sure that each of the Kumo were in place. They were. Then the ambush was sprung and almost immediately things went bad in a way he couldn't explain. A body, or at least half of one, seemed to appear out of nowhere, and without a sound, killed one of the Kumo ninja before it just as quickly disappearing.

It took Neji a half a second to realize his mistake. Every living creature uses some sort of chakra to some extent, including the trees. Part of learning to use the Byakugan effectively was to filter out all the background noise. If you couldn't do that, particularly in an old-growth forest within dense trees like this one, your site would be no greater than someone without the Byakugan. This person must be slipping through the trees or the ground somehow. It had to be a Kekkei Genkei, one that his family had never come across and survived.

"Get away from the trees, it's a trap." Neji shouted, breaking cover, realizing too late they were the ones who had walked into the ambush.

To their credit, both of the remaining Kumo ninja listened to him, though, it was too late for one of them. As he broke from his position, the man was cut down as their attacker seemingly appeared out of one tree and jumped into another, cutting the man down.

Neji consciously shrunk his field of vision, sacrificing distance for greater detail. "There's a clearing forty yards to the east of your current position. Head for it." He started to follow his own advice when he remembered Sakura, had she managed to grab the kid or not? Reluctantly, he expanded his vision again.

* * *

Sakura waited behind a tree, her eyes closed, concentrating on her breathing. To carry off her part of the plan would require split-second timing. Honestly, she thought Kakashi should have her job, but the Chidori could cut the numbers of enemies in half.

"There in the box." Kakashi's voice came over the radio in a low whisper. "Starting in three, two, one."

She heard the sound of an arrow cutting through the air and then the faint sound of it hitting the trunk of a tree. Even with her eyes shut tight, the bright white light given off by the burning magnesium turned her world from black to an odd shade of red. Silently, she counted to three before opening her eyes and starting her run.

The two Akatsuki members were exactly where they were supposed to be. Both seemed stunned, with one even having their hand raised to block the light. No matter how hard a ninja trained, their eyes remained a weak point.

Still dazzled, it was horrifyingly easy to slip the child out of his captors' grasp and continue running. It was so easy she double-checked to make sure she had a person. He was unconscious, but alive. Behind her, she heard the sound of a battle erupt and the sound of a Chidori being used. Not looking back, she ran towards Neji and the others position.

She ran through the forest, trees nothing more than blurry objects to be avoided. The shout of, "Stop," nearly came too late to avoid a collision with Neji as he darted in front of her and smashed a tree to splinters. The tree groaned and for a second looked as if it was going to hold before slowly toppling to the side with several cracks of snapping wood.

"What going on Neji?" Sakura demanded.

"It's an ambush. They were expecting us," Neji supplied, not looking at her. "This one can travel through the ground and into trees. He's fast and already killed two of the Kumo ninja."

"Ambush?" Where is he? Can't you see him?" Sakura asked, turning her back on Neji for the little good her pair of eyes would do.

"He's circling us. I have to shorten my field of view to see him, otherwise he gets filtered out with the rest of the background."

Sakura wished she had a deeper understanding of how the Byakugan worked. Still, the enemy seemed to have a good idea what their plan had been, which meant her snatch of the kid had been allowed. A sickening sensation reached her as she remembered what this kid and Naruto had in common. They were both jinchuriki and this Akatsuki was after them for some reason. How much had they planned? Did they know that Naruto was with them and that's why they had allowed themselves to be attacked? She should get back to them if that was the case, but she couldn't leave Neji since he was the only one who could see this invisible enemy.

"Have you ever heard of an ability like this?" Neji asked. "He's not tunneling, but it's almost like he's like water. He keeps his body, though. I can't figure out how it works."

"Doesn't sound like anything I've heard of," Sakura said, slowly sifting through the data she had and came up blank. "We need more information."

"You have a suggestion?"

"Maybe," Sakura supplied, gently putting down the child. "How far away is he circling us?"

"About twenty yards. What is your plan?"

"Tell me when he's 15° off of passing right in front of me."

"All right," Neji said skeptically. "Now!"

Sakura leaped forward and punched the ground with all the strength of Tsunade at her peak. The ground gave as a crater was created in an instant, toppling nearby trees.

She retreated back to Neji. "What happened?"

"You missed him, but you might have hurt him. He was moving slower when he was in the crater, but slid out of view."

"Perhaps, but I compacted a lot of dirt. Maybe it was the change in density that threw him," she speculated. "He might be able to travel through any material. It would explain how he could go from the ground to a tree at least. "Is there any water nearby?"

"Water? There was a-get down!"

She was pushed to the ground just as something flew overhead. It smacked into a tree with a loud crack. She glanced up to something that looked vaguely like a kunai, only completely black and a lot thinner. "About that water, Neji."

"Follow me."

Rolling to her feet, she picked up the kid and ran after her teammate. A few more of the strange kunai were thrown at them. The analytical part of her mind started to suspect they were made out of obsidian. Obsidian was a strange material, like a natural glass. There were some medical nins that swore they were better than metal scalpels. They also could break like glass, but he didn't seem to be worried about his supply and she wasn't sure which was more worrying.

* * *

When the light from the magnesium faded away, Naruto stepped out from behind the tree, several kunai ready. Sakura made the snatch and kept running as Capt. Mamoru dropped from a tree to cover her retreat. He threw his kunai, and in an astonishing feat of accuracy from this distance, each one missed hitting anyone. At that moment, the Akatsuki members seemed to regain their vision and started to turn towards him. With a grin, Naruto watched as his kunai dropped their Henge revealing their clone natures. Arms and legs were grabbed just as he recognized the red hair and body shape of someone he thought dead.

He opened his mouth to shout a warning, but the sound of a Chidori filled the air. A second later Kakashi attacked the taller of the two, his hand going through the man's chest effortlessly. Otonashi was not as lucky as he attacked the smaller of the two. His kunai had some sort of neurotoxin that was supposed to kill almost immediately, but this was just a puppet.

The kunai bounced off the surface in what seemed like horrifyingly slow motion. Naruto seemed to have the time to register the astonished look on Otonashi's face and watched as the puppets forearm dropped, revealing a short sword. It slid into his friends' stomach with horrifying ease. Otonashi stopped the blade from sliding upwards by grabbing it, but he was weak. Simultaneously, Kakashi's target burst into motion, twisting around and striking his sensei with enough force to send him flying into a tree. The man with a hole in his chest completed his turn, throwing a kunai at Capt. Mamoru that caught him in his chest.

Naruto didn't remember moving. He was almost on top of the puppet thing before it could push off of Otonashi and retreated to a tree branch. His face remained passive as he commented casually, "This is an angry one, Kakuzu."

"Jinchuriki seem to be that way, Sasori." The other man, Kakuzu, said in a low voice.

His eyes flickered from one to the other as they spoke. Naruto watched with instinctual repulsion as the hole in Kakuzu's chest seemed to knit back together with gray strands.

"Draw them away. Leave a clone back."

Otonashi's words were barely audible and Naruto resisted the urge to check on his friend. He must have a plan, and besides, fighting with wounded around was not a good idea. Not that it would be easy. He couldn't look as if he was trying to lead them away. He would have to chase them away.

Raising his hands, he formed a familiar hand sign and dozens of clones appeared behind him. Half of them turned into Windmill Shuriken and were picked up by the other doppelgängers as they rushed forward. The first two were thrown directly at Sasori and were destroyed as a flame shot out from his non-sword arm. It didn't matter, though, the rest of his clones were trying to encircle him.

The demon puppet retreated, flame and sword destroying any clone that came into range. Naruto gave chase, occasionally throwing a weapon just to keep the man's attention. He consciously turned his back on Kakuzu, hoping he would follow. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a plan beyond that.

He had fought Sasori and remembered he used a lot of puppets, but he hadn't pulled one out yet. Did he not have any more or was he fighting one? Last time, Naruto had thought him dead, maybe this was just another puppet? Still, they would have to stay in line of sight. He made another batch of clones to do a sweep around the area.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck started to stand up and he darted towards a nearby tree. Lightning hit the ground where he had been standing and sliced through the tree and continued to follow him. Now the tables were turned. He was running from the sound of snapping trees and the smell of ozone.

Naruto was completely blindsided by the wind attack. One moment he was running and the next moment he was flying, twisting through the air as he was buffeted by debris and smacking into the ground, landing all wrong before bouncing only to land slightly better. Feeling a warm liquid run into his eye, he swiped it away only to see it was blood. He thought about summoning, but to what point?

This time, he saw his attackers coming towards him and they had doubled in number. In addition to the original two Akatsuki members, there were now two misshaped creatures fanned out in front of him. Both of the things seemed to be bigger than a man. One walked on two legs and had a mask for a face. It looked like a gaudy prostitute with red lipstick sneered around its mouth. The other seemed more birdlike, gliding from branch to branch. It, too, had a mask and something told him that's what he should destroy.

Naruto again created two clones and tried to look more injured than he was. He decided to attack the bird creature simply because it was, slightly, a little closer than the others. The clones charged the birdlike creature in a head-on attack. One helped the other create a Rasengan as Naruto slipped his hand into his weapons pouch.

The bird creature released another wind attack, cutting down both the clones. Naruto had been waiting for that and darted forward the second the attack started to weaken and threw a kunai with an exploding note attached. He smiled with satisfaction as it struck just above the things mask and exploded. Globs of whatever it was made out of were sent flying before it just seemed to dissolve. That left three.

Then, the clone he left back with Otonashi reported in and he grinned. That should cut down the numbers as long as he could keep them distracted.

The destruction of one of those things had caused the others to pause without a word said. Then, Kakuzu seemed to explode into some octopus like creature. Gray tentacles surrounded the man's body. Curious, Naruto threw several shuriken and the tentacles swatted them away. He threw another pair of kunai, and likewise, they were swatted away. The weird creature and Sasori were starting to flank him on either side and that was just fine.

Seeing a brief flash of light, he reached into his weapons pouch again and pulled out his last exploding note attached to a kunai. Aiming for it to land just outside of the tentacles reach, he threw it. Several of the tentacles moved to protect the body from the shockwave. The explosion threw dirt and rocks, but the writhing tentacles formed a perfect wall. Then, the tentacles stopped and slid to the ground.

Doing exactly as his friend had asked, Naruto pivoted towards Sasori and created one last clone to help him with his Rasengan. The puppet was distracted for a second but managed to raise his flamethrower arm almost in time.

An arrow landed behind him and would have been unnoticed if it wasn't for the hissing of an exploding tag. Sasori tried to jump away, but was caught in the explosion. Naruto instinctively got the trajectory just right. The Rasengan ripped through the puppet, starting at the puppets left hip and ending up through its right shoulder. Splinters went flying in all directions, including into him.

Landing, he turned back towards Kakuzu just in time to see the black thing attempting to merge with the body. For a second, it looked as if it twitching with life, but it was just a second. The end almost felt anticlimactic. Shiori dropped from a tree behind the enemy, her bow still in hand. Naruto's entire body was hurting him, but he started towards her and she met him halfway. Her face looked worried but he knew it wasn't on his behalf.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, you're really good with that bow." He knew it was a stupid thing to say, but he was impressed.

She shook her head. "They didn't think so. Nobody respects us archers." She bit her lip. "Otonashi said everyone's stable, but with the enemy dead can you try to catch up to Sakura and bring her back. Bring everyone back. The enemy's dead or at least they will be shortly." She nodded towards the body of Kakuzu.

Naruto gave it a glance himself. The shaft of an arrow was sticking out of his back and the tentacles remained limp. "I don't think you can kill him again."

"Yeah, yeah. You can trust those poisons of Otonashi if you want. Me, I'll feel better when I double-check." She reached into her pouch and pulled out a half dozen exploding tags.

The explosion Naruto heard a minute later made him question Otonashi's taste in women.

* * *

It was a pond, slightly longer than it was wide. That was the water Neji had been referring to. Sakura hoped it would be enough. "Neji, take the kid."

She felt the weight of the kid lift from her as he asked, "Are you going to fill me in?"

"Tenten made me a special type of explosive. It's capable of exploding underwater. Energy transfers better through water than air. So, if we can get him in the water and set it off, well, even if it doesn't kill him, it will slow him down."

"And you intending to get him in the water how?" Neji asked.

Sakura stepped behind one of the larger trees so she was facing the pond. "Actually, I was thinking of bringing the water to him. You watch your side and I'll watch mine. If you see him give a shout"

Neji eyes lit with understanding. "Clever." He looked around at the terrain with equal care.

It was an old-growth forest. That meant big trees and lots of them. A solitary target hiding behind a tree could only be attacked from a distance at a few angles. Their attacker would have to stand near the water, and if she was fast enough, she might pull this off. As quietly as she could, she summoned the unique weapon Tenten had made her and waited.

The attack didn't come right away. Sakura imagine the thing circling them like a wolf. Like any predator, he would be frustrated to have so few avenues of attack. It was scary in a way, and she tried not to think about it. Instead, she watched intently for any sign of movement. Light and shadow can play tricks on the eyes. She knew that and it almost cost her the opportunity.

It was a flicker of movement high in one of the trees. In any other situation, she wouldn't have even registered it, but now she attacked. Shunshin was something she had never been great at, but this was such a short distance it hardly mattered. Flaring chakra into the waterproof bomb in her left hand, she struck the ground with her right, creating yet another crater. The ground collapsed into the water as trees toppled and water rushed into the new depression. Even prepared, she was barely fast enough to jump away. The seconds it took the bomb to activate seemed to last forever, but as she landed on the ground a spray of water was thrown into the air.

Tenten's bomb had worked just as she had said it would. Sakura just hoped she caught the bastard. Almost reluctantly, she went back to the water and saw a body floating. Just to be sure, she threw a kunai into it and only relaxed when it didn't flinch.


	32. Cataclysm

Chakra, every living thing uses it. It is more vital than blood. With proper training someone can knit torn blood vessels back together and leave no scar. With proper training someone can unleash a jutsu capable of unimaginable destruction. Thus is the contradictory nature of the elemental force that links all living creatures together.

-Excerpt from The Healing Art by Tsunade Fifth Hokage

* * *

Otonashi's definition of stable was apparently very flexible, Naruto thought. Sakura was still working on him and she seemed worried. The end damage was three dead Kumo ninja with Otonashi still in question. On their side, Kakashi was the only one injured, but badly. He had taken a blow that would've broken his neck if he hadn't been able to get his hand up in time to absorb some of it. Unfortunately, his hand had paid the price. Sakura had described his injury as a crushing one, and the side of his head had swelled up.

At least the kid was okay. He had a familiar looking device on him that was draining his chakra. It had been easily removed and now Sakura said he was just sleeping from exhaustion. Unfortunately, that left him to wonder if Yukigakure was involved with the Akatsuki. He hoped not. Princess Koyuki Kazahana had enough troubles as it was. He had visited her the last time he had been with Jiraiya and the ninja of Yukigakure, who had been on the out for so long had finally seemed to have worked their way back into her good graces

Sakura stood and walked away from Otonashi and both he and Shiori fell into step with her. "How is he?" Shiori asked, casually producing a box of pocky from somewhere and taking out one of the sticks.

"He's lost a lot of blood. I was able to stop the bleeding, but that sword had some sort of weird combination anticoagulant and paralyzing agent. He was able to close most of the wound himself but not all of it. His blood pressure is pretty low."

"What does all that mean?" Shiori demanded.

Sakura considered. "He needs a blood transfusion or he could possibly die. Honestly, I can't tell. All I know is we can't do it here."

"What about transferring chakra?" Naruto asked.

Sakura gave him a look at his reference to Konohamaru. "It's not like that. If his blood pressure drops any lower, his heart won't be able to pump blood. Chakra can't make more blood. At least not fast enough."

"Why are we standing around then? We have to get moving," Shiori said turning.

"That's what we have to decide now. I'm not exactly sure what the relationship between our two villages at this current point is. Konoha is closer than Kumo right now so I would take him there, but given current circumstances, that might not be the politically correct decision."

"I think we're allies now," Shiori supplied but she didn't sound too confident.

"What about a civilian hospital?" Both of the females looked at him with a look that told him he had either said something very insightful or very dumb.

"Sending him to a civilian hospital might work," Sakura said.

"Map," Shiori snapped at the other Kumo ninja who was guarding the kid.

The man produced one from a vest pocket and Shiori yanked it from his hand. Naruto didn't know if she outranked the other man or not but maybe an angry girlfriend outranked everyone. The three of them gathered around the map, but while there were a few close by towns, Sakura didn't think they would have the necessary facilities.

"The trouble is these villages may not have someone with the necessary medical training. Even if they did, they would also have to search the village for someone with the right blood type, which would take time," Sakura explained. "Konoha is our best choice."

Shiori nodded. "All right, I'll trust him with you."

"You're not coming?" Naruto asked surprised.

"The mission is to bring the kid back home. I can't deviate from that without orders."

Naruto swallowed nervously. There had been something in her tone that had seemed threatening. Not that he could blame her. "I'll get him them there as fast as possible." The girl, or really, woman, nodded.

"Naruto," Sakura said, "you'll make better time if you don't wait for the rest of us. Moving Kakashi is going to take some time. There's really nothing more I can do for Otonashi so just get him to the hospital as soon as possible."

They broke camp right after that. Otonashi and Shiori said a quick goodbye. Sakura helped position Otonashi on his back and Naruto set off through the trees. His friend didn't seem to weight too much and it was easy for him to fall into a rhythm.

"At least it's a nice day for a run." Otonashi said, his head resting on Naruto's shoulder.

He choked back a laugh. "Yeah, not too hot and we are not running into the sun. Couldn't be better."

"Yeah, sorry it was stupid of me to get injured."

"No, it's my fault," Naruto said. "The guy who hurt you, I had fought him before. I knew he was a puppet. I should've stopped you."

"No way you could have known. We should have identified the targets before attacking. Not that it would've helped. They turned the ambush on us."

Naruto didn't say anything to that. Despite what his friend was saying, he felt responsible. He should've smashed all those puppets to pieces or something.

"You're blaming yourself."

Otonashi's words almost brought him to a stop. "How did you know?"

"Naruto, you're a blissfully simple person and if you don't think that's a compliment you haven't been dating long enough." Otonashi tried to laugh. "You don't have a lot of layers. The person you introduce yourself as is the person you are. Problem is you think you can solve all the world's problems, but in order to believe that you also have to take the responsibility for everything. It's your one flaw, well, at least the one that worries me."

"You worry about me?" Naruto said grinning.

"A friend's prerogative," Otonashi answered. "Just let me pass on some advice, will you?"

"Go ahead, but maybe you should get some sleep then?"

"Hey, who's the medical-nin here?" Naruto could almost hear his smile as his friend continued. "The guy who trained me told me something when I started working with actual people that's always stuck with me. That was, no matter how hard you try and even if you do everything right, people die. Try your hardest, but remember there is tomorrow."

"I don't get it," Naruto announced after a second.

"Think about it."

"I will."

Otonashi sighed, "It's a nice day."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed.

They continued onwards, but after a while something didn't seem right. Naruto slowed almost to a stop, trying to sense if there was someone out there in the woods around them. "Otonashi." His friend was silent. "Otonashi!" Naruto said with more force. His friend didn't respond. Jumping down from the tree, he slid his friend down gently. He went to check his pulse, but even he could see there was no purpose in that. Naruto slumped to the ground.

* * *

Madara Uchiha calculated if this would be a good spot to release the chakra they had obtained from the One Tails. Unleashed, raw chakra was a devastating force, but he could only estimate the amount he had sealed in the scroll at his feet only to a reasonable degree. The rocky terrain was another factor, but if he released it here, most of the energy should be channeled towards the village. This was, of course, assuming he had some chakra left after the fight.

On the edge of his perception, he felt Zetsu's rapid approach. That wasn't strange since he had been expecting him, but the distance involved was. He was usually stealthier. When he started to emerge from the ground, Madara could see why. "What happened?"

"Disaster." Zetsu reported. "Everyone dead, jinchuriki lost. My other half destroyed."

Your dark half too Madara thought. "What happened?"

"Nine Tails was there, but he didn't do it all. We were just outmaneuvered." Zetsu leaned against the tree, showing a rare sign of fatigue. Madara could see a small patch of black on white. Whoever had designed Zetsu had built-in redundant measures. Zetsu had told him of his ability to regenerate a lost half, but this was the first time he was actually seeing it.

"That just leaves you and me," Madara said looking down at one of Kumogakure's training grounds that were dominated by a small lake. His thoughts drifted to Sasuke for a moment. His recruitment was more of a matter of revenge than a necessary part of his plan. He factored in this new information, but concluded no change was necessary.

"Your orders?" Zetsu asked.

Madara wasn't sure how long it would take Zetsu to grow back his other half, but he hoped it wouldn't take too long. Zetsu wasn't quite Zetsu unless there were two of them. "There's only three jinchuriki left, and soon there will be two. I'll grab this one and then we can sit back and watch the show."

"Understood," Zetsu said sinking back into the ground.

Madara waited a few minutes, allowing the other to retreat outside of the blast range before making his own move. Descending down the cliff side, he picked his spot near the lake and waited in ambush. There was a cave and he could feel demonic chakra somewhere below. It was disturbingly controlled. Very few jinchuriki ever truly mastered their inner demon, and those who did were justly feared. Now that he was this close, he doubted any of the other former Akatsuki members would've been able to take him down.

As soon as the man emerged from the cave, Madara made his move by casting a Genjutsu. Instead of freezing up, the man just grinned at him. "Genjutsu doesn't work on me, little Akatsuki."

"Damn," Madara muttered under his breath just before the man charged him. This fight was going to be a pain.

* * *

"I'm hungry."

"We're almost home," Shiori said trying not to snap at the five-year-old. How Otonashi was able to tolerate little kids was beyond her.

The three walked in silence for a minute before Masato spoke up again. "I'm hungry."

Shiori turned on the boy, about to bite his head off, but he took a step back, eyes widening with fear and she bit back her words. Instead, she dug around and produced a box of pocky and thrust it at the kid. "Here."

"What is it?

"Pocky," she supplied. "Best food ever invented."

Masato took the box as if it was a trap, but when he bit into the first stick, he smiled. "It's good."

Shiori smiled a little and started to turn around when there was a flash of white. She had enough time to wonder if it had been real when the wind came bending the tree branches as if they were caught up in a storm. The sound was all consuming, but Masato's terrified screaming could be picked out over all the noise. Then, as suddenly as it had come, silence descended.

"Watch Masato," Shiori snapped at the other ninja before turning and heading up the tallest tree in sight. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but at least a part of Kumogakure should be in sight. The site that met her eyes was not one of familiarity. Where Kumogakure should be was a weird heat haze. There wasn't even debris but even from this distance it looked as if the rock itself was moving like candle wax. Kumogakure was gone.

* * *

Entering Iwagakure without raising any notice was easier than Musashi had thought. The recent defeat had hit the village hard and it showed in the guards. They were too professional, too vigilant. They were finding comfort in their training.

As he walked through the streets the strange thought of how many others were mourning the loss of a child occurred to him. It was something he preferred not to think about. Intellectually, he knew he had lost a son but it hadn't sunk in emotionally yet.

Instead, he concentrated on not being noticed. If Iwagakure could be divided into two, it would be along the lines of the clan areas and the non-clan areas. It wasn't an official divide, but it was there nonetheless. So, he made a point of entering through a gate that opened into a non-clan area and made sure he didn't pick up any tails. Paranoid perhaps, but given his relationship with the Tsuchikage and his decision to go on a mission, it would raise questions in the minds of some clan elders if nowhere else.

Still, there was no one, and when he reached the Tsuchikage's offices he was shown in right away. The Tsuchikage was a young man but recent events had aged him. Musashi felt sympathy for him. The man had just lost a big gamble and he was going to deliver some more bad news.

"Hanzo has been assassinated."

"Konoha," the Tsuchikage stated more than asked.

"You know?" Musashi questioned.

"It only stands to reason. Suna is in political confusion with their Kazekage alive but weak," he snorted, "nothing like a crisis to bring the political creatures out of the woodwork." The Tsuchikage's tone implied he wasn't just referring to Suna's political problems. "Kusa is battling Ame along their border, which is leaving them fully committed. Kumo is staying out of the fray so far, so they wouldn't be behind it."

"You haven't considered internal unrest," Musashi observed. The Tsuchikage's face registered subtle surprise and he found comfort in that. "During my unusual posting, I learned that Hanzo was not as strong as we had thought. There were rebels who openly defied his authority, and judging by how reluctant they were to allow me or anyone else to interact with anyone but a selected few, I'm guessing he was not popular among his people. I was concerned enough for my own safety that during the confusion after the assassination, I chose to slip away. I don't know who is in power or even the candidates. However, I wouldn't bet on his successor choosing to continue the alliance."

Defeat is a hard thing to see in a leaders face. Musashi liked the younger man and respected him. Like many, he had pinned hopes on him and had watched with frustration as options were taken away from him by the stubborn and the entrenched. Many on the Clan Council cared more about their own clan than Iwagakure in its entirety. Others must sacrifice but we must not, could be their motto.

"If we pursue for peace now, we can negotiate better terms than if we wait," the Tsuchikage said.

"The Clan Council will want to arrange a favorable successor to Hanzo," Musashi said slipping into the role of antagonist.

"Which we don't have the political strength or the necessary connections to do," the Tsuchikage left unsaid that he would be blamed for those shortcomings. "We could send forces directly to assure such an outcome, but occupying one of your allies, particularly when they're fighting abroad, will be disastrous."

"A few of the smaller clans will agree with you after you exhaust your political options, maybe enough to allow you to try for a peace treaty." Musashi said even though he knew the bigger clans wouldn't budge. No matter how good the peace treaty was, they would still have the same problems that had sent them into this mess.

"You guys sound like you got time."

Musashi spun around, wondering how he had missed the third person in the room. The office only had one place where someone could stand and not be seen from where he was. Sure enough, a man stepped out from behind a large filing cabinet. Not impressive in size, he wore a dark cloak with red clouds and an orange mask.

"Stand down," the Tsuchikage ordered. Musashi's hand slipped away from his weapons pouch but he didn't let it wander far.

"I was just sort of listening in on your conversation and it seems you're a little behind. You see, Kumo had one of their jinchuriki grabbed. They had to recruit Konoha's help in getting him back. Unfortunately, the price Konoha asked for was an alliance, if only on paper. Fortunately, I dealt with that for you." The man spoke, his voice had gone from childish sounding too unemotional.

"There are reports that someone dressed similar to you battled Roshi before he disappeared. I'm guessing they're true."

The man shrugged, which was a disturbingly casual gesture under the circumstances. "Yeah, you got me, not that it matters. No one will believe you after what you did to Kumo."

"What did you do?" Musashi interrupted.

Even with the mask hiding the man's face, he seemed to smile. "I destroyed it. Of course, since they were your new enemy, everyone will think you did it."

A kunai flew and went right through the man with the mask. Musashi cursed as he activated his eyes and was baffled. It looked as if the man was standing right in front of him.

The man continued, completely ignoring the attack. "You can try to explain," he emphasized the last word sarcastically. "Mention my organization, however, if anyone looked they won't find much. Too many people would see us as a convenient scapegoat. After all, your goal was to expand your sphere of influence, and with the loss of Kumo, you would have accomplished that. Not to mention a weakened Konoha, Suna in political chaos and that little brushfire war between Ame and Kusa that will leave both weakened. Think how convenient it will look, ask for peace just after you accomplish your goal with a convenient third party to blame."

"What do you gain by all this?" The Tsuchikage asked, speaking up.

"I'm not so much interested in the war, but the peace." With that cryptic statement, the man seemed to twist away.


	33. Fallout

Two men standing on either side of a mountain, both see the mountain, but neither will agree on the shape.

-Anonymous

* * *

Naruto stared up at the ceiling, watching a fly walk around in a random pattern. His run back to Konoha had turned into a march. He had enough forethought to seal Otonashi's body into a scroll. Not having the necessary skill to seal it away properly, he knew no one would be able to obtain information from it. He had done that on purpose, but it proved to be an unnecessary precaution since their two villages were currently allied.

Rolling over, he switched his view to the wall. He kept thinking of Otonashi. He had been alive one minute and then not the next. Naruto had lost friends in the past. Hinata had been killed the same year they had graduated and Lee had been killed in an explosion. Seeing one and hearing of the other had hurt, but something was different this time. Dying in battle was one thing, but dying because of blood loss just felt wrong. You weren't supposed to die from an injury after a battle.

Then he thought of Konohamaru who would have died if he hadn't been there. That time he had been there to help, but he couldn't help Otonashi. Damn Fox. It gave him the power to save one friend but not another. A good night's sleep had always healed his injuries. Right now, that was the reason he hated the Fox more than ever.

* * *

"There was a time when elders were treated with respect in this village," Onoki complained as Musashi showed him to a chair. "What possible problem could justify getting an old man out of bed in the middle of the night."

"Old man," the Tsuchikage tone was very cold "I know not everything is officially written down. What didn't you tell me about the man in the mask?"

Musashi stepped back and activated his eyes. It increased his ability to detect subtle lies, but he could tell that was not the question Onoki was expecting. "He's part of a mercenary force. They've provided us with accurate intelligence in the past and have done a few jobs that were, politically, a problem."

"Details, please, and not the ones that were written down. Anything you decided was better not to tell me when I took this position."

Onoki seemed more intrigued than worried to Musashi. "They destroyed the Raion clan and killed the second son of the Daimyo who was feeding information to those samurai a few years ago."

Not mentioning either of those made sense to Musashi. It was said that the Land of Earth Daimyo had an uncanny ability to detect lies in face-to-face meetings. He had heard that some suspected it was a kekkei genkai since his father was rumored to have a similar ability. He would never have signed off on assassinating that son. As for the Raion clan, they had been a small ninja clan in the far north that specialized in anti-pirate activities. They had never been forced to join the village partially because they enjoyed the protection of the local governor. Musashi had always thought it suspicious that several pirate groups had joined together to destroy their small village and then immediately disband.

"That is it?" The Tsuchikage demanded.

"I told you everything else. If you tell me exactly what you want to know I might be of more help."

Musashi signaled that he wasn't detecting any deception, though, this was more of a skill then a talent.

"Have they ever expressed any interest in jinchuriki?"

"No. The meetings were always strictly, business. Why?"

The Tsuchikage hesitated, but decided to go for full disclosure. "It goes without saying that none of this leaves the room. As I'm sure you're aware, Roshi is missing in action. There were reports that he did battle with someone similarly dressed to Orange Mask. Officially, this was a battle between him and two Konoha ninjas and this is what most of the reports said. However, one report clearly stated that the Konoha ninja and Roshi were fighting the third together. Han also has not reported back from his mission and I fear he met a similar fate."

That caught Musashi by surprise. He had not known about Han. His daughter had a strange friendship with the man ever since they had done a joint mission to take out a rebel leader in Rain. He didn't approve of it, but it was innocent so he had never done much about it.

"They are true mercenaries. Perhaps they were paid to take them out. If I was in Konoha's position, I would certainly consider it." Onoki seemed unsure and Musashi gave that signal.

"You don't believe that." The Tsuchikage stated.

"It would not fit their profile," Onoki allowed.

"So why would the Akatsuki want with jinchuriki then?"

"I don't know. Taking away our powerful ninja would prolong the war and perhaps they think we will turn to them for aid. From what I've seen, I would prefer them as allies than enemies, but whether they could really shift a war, I don't know. They don't give details about how they carry out their missions, just that they can fulfill any requests."

The Tsuchikage retreated into thought and Musashi could imagine what he was thinking. If the Akatsuki had the ability to destroy one of the larger hidden villages, why all this cloak and dagger stuff? They had only managed to confirm independently Kumo's destruction about an hour ago and it was still classified. Not that such information could be restrained for long. Most of the Clans would know by morning and from there it would become general knowledge.

"So, if you were told by this organization that Kumo had been destroyed, you would believe it?" The Tsuchikage asked.

Up until now, Onoki had treated the meeting as if it was an inconvenience, but now he dropped his pretense of annoyance. "You've independently confirmed?"

"An hour ago, a flash of light was seen in the general direction of Kumo which drew the attention of the locals. We have a spy in a nearby village that saw the flash. He investigated with some of the other locals, and even from a distance they could tell it was destroyed. Not attacked, but destroyed."

Onoki was silent before suggesting hesitantly, "Like a natural disaster?"

"You could say that."

"Then it was the Akatsuki. They grabbed our jinchuriki and released their chakra. Why though? Using them like that would unite the villages against them."

"They intend to blame us," The Tsuchikage answered. "At least that was how it was explained to me."

"If you knew that then why the hell did you drag me here," Onoki snapped. "You should be preparing the village!"

"I am, old man. Having no strong desire to fight an alliance of every hidden village, I've ordered a recall of all our ninjas from beyond the border. If we have to fight were going to fight in the mountains."

"You can't abandon Ame!" Onoki shouted, springing to his feet which was a wholly ineffective gesture because his head almost disappeared under the desk's top.

"Hanzo has been assassinated. I'm expecting them to jump ship. With our surprise attack on Konoha failing, I don't see them backing us, especially if more villages are going to jump into the fray."

"What exactly did you call me here for then?" Onoki demanded.

The Tsuchikage's smile lacked any humor. "What would you do, if you were in my position?"

"Prepare for a joint attack, but ask for a Kage Summit to present evidence of our innocence there." Onoki answered, sitting back in his chair.

"We're short on such evidence." The Tsuchikage observed.

"Try Konoha. That other ninja Roshi fought with might have survived. They might know something. That is assuming none of the other major villages are behind this. This is the type of simple analysis you should be able to do for yourself." Onoki finished.

"An Akatsuki member spelled out the situation. So, every time we came up with a plan, we started to second-guess ourselves, wondering if that might not be exactly what they wanted us to do. You were an outside observer," Musashi spoke up for the first time.

Onoki smirked humorously. "If I'm done being your guinea pig I'll be leaving." The former Tsuchikage stood and started to head for the door.

"There is one more thing," the new Tsuchikage said as the old man reached the door. "Onoki, you have officially been reactivated, report for duty today."

The only acknowledgment the man gave was a wave over his shoulder. The silence that followed was uncomfortable. Musashi knew what was coming next and he dreaded it.

"Musashi," the Tsuchikage began. "It looks like you'll be playing ambassador again."

"With virtually no evidence, and having to cross hostile terrain, it's practically a suicide mission."

"And yet you're the best we have. Try to leave before the sun rises, I don't want you being waylaid by some damn meeting."

"Yes, sir." Musashi resisted the urge to sigh. Home and away in less than twelve hours, what a life.

* * *

Tsunade was in the daily status meeting when Shizune quietly slipped into the room and laid a piece of paper in front of her. Her eyes glanced down and read it, 'Urgent, Kumo ninja demanding meeting.' A new crisis, she thought. Well, at least it gave her an excuse to cut this meeting short.

A moment later she was in the hall with Shizune who seemed unsettled. "You know what this is about?"

The younger woman shook her head as they started to walk down the hallway. "She showed up at the gate and demanded a meeting right away. She is not carrying any official documents, but she said it was urgent to talk to you. She relinquished her weapons, but only once she was promised a meeting. I called up an ANBU squad and they're standing by. That is, unless you don't want to meet with her."

Tsunade frowned, the circumstances were bizarre, but given the current political situation she really didn't have a choice. "No, I'll meet with her. Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, her name is Shiori and she looks exhausted." Shizune added.

She nodded, wondering what type of message would require the Raikage to rush a message but not give any documentation for a Kage to Kage communication. Of course, she also had to consider that this was actually an assassination attempt. That had happened before after all.

Once she stepped into her office, the assassination theory seemed unlikely. The woman in front of her was exhausted. Her eyes were bloodshot with dark circles. Her lips were cracked, suggesting dehydration. Overusing Soldier Pills could do that even if you consume enough water. She would've offered her a seat, but was afraid she might fall asleep in the chair. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, about twenty-six hours ago there was an explosion. This explosion was massive enough to wipe out the entirety of Kumogakure." Shiori stated.

The words were not what she was expecting. A hidden village being destroyed was possible, even a major one could be destroyed, but wiped out by an explosion? There shouldn't be anything that powerful. "How did you survive then?"

She shrugged, "Luck, I guess. My team and I were approaching the village when it happened."

"You have evidence?" Tsunade asked.

Shiori just looked at her for a minute before she said, "I'm sure the rumor will hit soon. Considering our villages were allied at the time, I think you should be aware that the enemy has the capability."

"You're saying it was Iwa?"

"Who else?" Shiori asked.

Iwa was the most obvious candidate, but she couldn't jump to conclusions. "I'll need to confirm this independently, you understand?"

"Yeah," she paused and then asked, "There was a Kumo ninja that should've been brought in earlier today. What's his condition?"

Tsunade had not been expecting that question, but something clicked. "I'm sorry, but he didn't make it."

It seemed to take a few moments for the words to sink in, but the girl nodded slowly after a moment as her gaze fell to the floor.

"Were you close to him?" Tsunade ventured.

"Yes. How did you know?"

Tsunade smiled sadly. "You knew of the wounded Kumo ninja, but you said you were on your way back from a mission. That means you must have been part of the rescue team since you knew someone was injured. I'm assuming the rest of your team is somewhere outside the village? I feel obligated to tell you that there's more of the organization that grabbed the child than was defeated. He is in danger. We will extend protection to him and anyone else from your village for the time being."

Shiori nodded. "I sprinted the last few miles to your village to deliver the information. They're on their way. We accept your offer, but reserve the right to leave."

"We will want to talk to you once you've caught up on some sleep. You look dead on your feet." Tsunade imagined she hadn't taken a rest from Kumo to here. Given the distance involved in the relatively short time, she should be exhausted.

* * *

Naruto watched from his balcony as the sun started its long dissent. He had no desire to fill the few hours of sunlight left with anything, but only felt mildly guilty about it. He wasn't even hungry. He didn't feel much of anything. When he heard the soft knock at his door, at first, he ignored it, but then it came again louder. "It's open." He heard the door open and someone coming in.

"Naruto?" Sakura questioned.

"Sakura, how is Kakashi?" Naruto asked, glancing over his shoulder.

She joined him on the balcony squeezing in next to him. "He'll be hospitalized for a few days and his hand will recover, but he won't be seeing any active service for a while."

"That's good, that he'll recover," Naruto said, turning back to his view of the village. They stood in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Sakura spoke.

"I'm sorry about Otonashi."

"Yeah," Naruto said.

"You did what you could," Sakura said.

"It didn't help," Naruto responded.

Sakura sighed and he felt an arm wrapped around his waist in a half hug. "Naruto, no matter how hard you try and even if you do everything right, people die."

Naruto looked over at her as he heard Otonashi's last words repeated to him. "Try your hardest, but remember there's tomorrow."

"You heard this already?" Sakura smiled softly.

"Otonashi told me," Naruto said staring into her green eyes. He felt his mouth open, but choked it back. He swallowed and said, "Sakura, my friend is dead."

She nodded. He hugged her and she hugged him. It felt right. He thought of Otonashi and he thought of Sakura. It made sense now. He would not want to forget Otonashi, but he had tried his hardest. Sakura was here now, however, and his friend wouldn't want him to stop living. He needed to push forward.

"Sakura, you want to get something to eat?"

"Sure, but I walked by Ichiraku on my way here and it was packed."Sakura said looking up at him.

"You pick then."

"Do you know the time?"

Naruto stiffened. He remembered the watch the rebel leader had given them, and more importantly, a piece of information the man had only shared with him. He had been so distracted that it had slipped his mind till now. The man behind the Akatsuki was named Madara Uchiha.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked concerned.

"I need to talk to Sasuke, now!"


	34. Convergent Threads

The greatest enemy is found within.

-Anonymous

* * *

Sakura realized that fear drove her. She had never been afraid of the dark or the mundane things like that as a child. Instead, she had convinced herself that if she was not good her parents would stop loving her. At the Academy, she had been worried that if she didn't always know the answer people would think she was stupid and stop paying attention to her, or worse think, she didn't belong.

Academic studies were perfect for her. You either knew the answer or you didn't, a black-and-white world. The other skills taught at the Academy were more nebulous, where you either passed or failed. She had always passed but it had taken her a while to realize how stunted she had been. Without the fear of failing she had nothing to run away from. Passing was satisfactory.

She had chosen to become a medical-nin because she was afraid of letting her friends down. Sakura realized she had been terrified of losing one of them, either literally or simply being left behind. So, she had studied diligently and Tsunade had been impressed with her rapid growing abilities.

Looking back, she could now see how fear molded her. She had never deviated from instructions for fear of making a mistake. She had studied hard because she was afraid Tsunade would realize she was unworthy of her time, and most importantly, she had feared losing a friend. Fear was her companion as much as Naruto's desire to prove himself had driven him. For the most part, it was a good thing, but it had held her back. She couldn't deny that.

When she had learned that a corpse could be sealed away and later autopsied, she asked the obvious question of why they couldn't do it to a living person. It just seemed obvious, that if someone was severely injured, it would be a good idea to put them in a scroll and carry them to where they could receive the proper treatment. Even if they couldn't seal a whole person away, why not at least carry a portable blood bank with them.

The answer had been complicated, but it boiled down to when a corpse was sealed properly it was petrified in a static state, but this process was fatal to any living organism. After hearing that, she had quite boastfully proclaimed that she could solve the problem, which was proof that Naruto was contagious. Tsunade had been unusually tolerant of her outburst and had simply said, "When you think you're ready ask for my notes."

Despite her boasts, she almost had forgotten about it as the rest of her training and life put that ambition further and further away. She felt that there was so much out there to learn, that there was no way she could add anything to the well of knowledge. After all, the next obscure scroll book or paper might contain the answer to a question. At least that was what she told herself. The real problem was fear, though.

She was a student. She studied and memorized. Even when she was diagnosing a poison, she was following steps and discovering antidotes through proven means. The idea of trying something unknown scared her.

When Naruto had asked to transfer some of his chakra into the mortally wounded Konohamaru, she had, for a second, frozen with fear. What Naruto was asking for was forbidden. The fact that she only had a vague theory on how to do it also scared her, but she had succeeded. She had grabbed another victory against death.

That success had deeply satisfied her, though, she would never admit it. It had given her a new type of confidence. Then, when she heard Otonashi had died because of blood loss, she realized two things. The first was that she needed to at least try to find a solution to the blood storage problem. She needed to get over her fear of failure. Her old companion had now become an enemy. It had caused her not to try. The second and the more pressing thing was she needs to check on Naruto.

That was what she had set out to do. Sakura doubted she would ever become accustomed to how quickly Naruto could change. She had known, the moment she had heard that Otonashi had died, she knew it would hit him hard. He had been Naruto's first friend. She couldn't imagine losing Ino.

Finding him cloistered in his room had not been unexpected. Getting him to talk had been easier than she had expected, and then he remembered something and they had rushed through the village to the practically abandoned Uchiha district.

"This never happens in one of Jiraiya's books," Naruto said, turning away from the door that no one had answered.

"Oh," Sakura said smirking, "So you have read those perverted books then?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly, trying to look innocent. "Well, yeah, but he made me."

"I'm sure," Sakura said, making sure she sounded like she didn't believe him. "But now that Sasuke isn't here, care to share whatever is so important?"

"It was something that the rebel leader told me. He said the name of the Akatsuki leader was Madara Uchiha. I wanted to see if they had ever heard of him. You know, in case he just made up the name or something."

Sakura stared at Naruto, wavering between astonished and horrified. "You haven't thought of telling anyone of this before now?"

Naruto managed to look at least a little guilty. "Well, I was going to, but then there was the assassination mission and then running away and then the other mission, then, well, it just kind of kept getting pushed down. I mean, a lot happened." He ended on a low note as he remembered Otonashi.

Her head hurt with the amount of conflicting questions she wanted to ask. Did Naruto really think it was a good idea to just ask Sasuke that question? Had he really just forgotten to mention it to someone? Perhaps, most disturbing of all, had he really not paid attention in any history class? "Naruto, I'm pretty sure many people could tell you about Madara Uchiha." His confused look made her sigh. "We learned about him at the Academy."

"Um, we did?"

"He was the leader of the Uchiha clan when the village was founded. Considered one of the best of his generation, does any of this sound familiar?" Now that she reflected on what she knew, though, it seemed pretty skimpy, historically speaking. Almost like they felt obligated to mention him, but like taking off a band-aid, just wanting to get it over with.

"History bored me," Naruto responded. "Still, if it was that long ago then it would have to be someone different. Granny Tsunade wasn't born then and we both know she's old. Maybe someone else had that name or they're just using it. Sasuke might know, and if he doesn't, well, he should know that someone's out there using his family's name."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure this is the best way to tell him. Sasuke may not handle it well."

"May not handle what well, Sakura?"

Sakura spun around to see Sasuke with Kado standing next to him, both looking as if they had just come back from a mission. Sasuke was scowling while Kado just looked exhausted. Before she could say something Naruto answered. "We think someone's using your family name."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, we met this rebel guy and he told us the Akatsuki leader was Madara Uchiha and, well, um…" Naruto trailed off, realizing he was mangling his explanation.

Sakura saw the two Uchiha share a glance with each other. "You know something?"

"I think we should see the Hokage," Sasuke suggested looking back at them.

"You think?" Kado muttered.

"You weren't included in the we," Sasuke said to Kado. "Naruto, Sakura, you're sure they said Madara?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Still, he couldn't be the guy who was around at the founding, Sakura said because he would be really really old. Did anyone else ever have the name?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke hesitated and turned toward Kado. "Is that possible?"

"Oh, now you want my opinion." Kado rolled his eyes even as he supplied the answer, "I didn't come across any duplicate names in the family tree. A couple of firstborn sons of whoever, but that's pretty common in clans."

Sakura frowned, surprised at the ease at which Sasuke accepted this information. "This isn't surprising you. Why?"

It was only from years of knowing Sasuke that Sakura could tell he was embarrassed. It was just the way he shifted his weight, moving one shoulder towards the person he was talking too. "Kado and I just got back from checking a similar lead."

"What! Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto demanded.

Sakura saw Sasuke's expression darken and she stepped in between them to stop the fight before it could begin. "We've all been busy. If there's something to this we should report it."

"Sakura is right," Kado chimed in, reminding every one of his presence.

"You go play," Sasuke snapped, but his retort lacked any real annoyance.

Sakura had never really waited for a meeting with Tsunade before. With Naruto or her, she always seemed to be able to make time in short order. The hour they were kept waiting did more to put her on edge rather than upsetting her. At least it gave Sasuke a chance to catch them up on his half of the information. Although, she thought he seemed a little unsure of what to believe himself.

When Tsunade let them into her office, she took the news of Madara Uchiha possibly not being only alive but in charge of the Akatsuki with far too much aplomb. It was as if one more extraordinary fact had been added onto her personal pile. It wasn't so much that she was not surprised, but not shocked. Sakura was worried enough to actually ask her point blank if there was anything else she knew. Her answer was surprisingly simple.

"Sakura, I have two choices. Either Madara Uchiha has found a way to cheat death and has been manipulating this Akatsuki group for whatever his purposes are. Or I must believe that Sasuke was placed under a genjutsu and Naruto was lied to by either the same person or someone allied with him. Which is harder to believe? Do elaborate conspiracies ever really exist?"

"No," Sakura answered quietly, flanked by her teammates.

She nodded and addressed Sasuke. "This puts that meeting of yours in a new context. This may be a major opportunity for the village, so since you've scouted the area I will allow you to handpick anyone you think will be useful in capturing Madara. We may not know what his game is but he does not have this village's best interest in mind, I'm sure."

"I want to be assigned to that mission, Granny Tsunade," Naruto spoke up.

For a second, Sakura was confident there was going to be an argument, but then Tsunade simply sighed. "We'll discuss that later. I've issued an order to recall Jiraiya from his current scouting position. He's the closest thing we have to an expert on the Akatsuki. Until then, stand by. Dismissed."

Sakura hesitated and both of her teammates followed suit. Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Is there something else?"

At that moment, she wanted to say nothing and just walk away, but she knew she had to get over it. "Does your offer still stand on sharing your notes about sealing biological material? If so, I would like them now."

There was a moment where nothing seemed to happen until Tsunade smiled. It was the type Sakura had had only seen on her when she had accomplished a difficult task. It was subtle, but impossible to hide even if she had turned around. "Give me a day to collect them all together."

The three of them filed out of the building, each a little unsatisfied in their own way. Sakura, for one, thought the news would've produced more of a reaction. She was about to ask if Naruto still wanted to get something to eat when she noticed the odd pair of Kado and Udon waiting for them just outside the gates of the building.

When they approached, Kado spoke up. "Did the Hokage tell you guys anything?"

"Like what?" Naruto muttered, not sounding like his usual self.

The two younger ninjas looked at each other and Udon answered. "We were eating out and we overheard another ninja saying that Iwo had destroyed Kumo."

* * *

Tsunade wanted a drink. Actually, she wanted a drink followed by another drink and so on until she had drained the entirety of Konoha of its sake supply. That was what the last few days had reduced her to wishing for, Kumogakure's disruption had been confirmed and the correspondence from other villages had started flooding in shortly thereafter.

Everyone agreed what had happened to Kumo could not be tolerated. Old treaties were brought up along with the samurai incident. Most hinted that a similar alliance should be formed even if they were unsure of where to direct it, while others hinted that Iwagakure might be behind it, and because of that, many of the smaller villages seemed to be suggesting that Konoha should take the lead. It might be flattering if Kirigakure wasn't the only other option.

Amegakure had jumped ship on Iwagakure, declaring a truce with Kusagakure. Several minor villages that were rarely heard from had done likewise. Not that any of them had provided any useful information. If Iwa had a weapon like that up their sleeve they had kept it from their allies. In fact, they were the only village she had not received a letter from. A lot could be read into that depending on what position someone would want to argue.

She put down the letter from Kirigakure and buried her head in her hands. They were the last village to reach her due to their geographical isolation, but they were far more direct. Whoever was behind the attack had to be found and eliminated. They also suggested that until the threat was accurately ascertained she should scatter her forces. They didn't directly say that Iwagakure was behind it, but she suspected that last piece of information had only been mentioned in hoped it would be leaked to Iwa.

The trouble was Iwa looked guilty. If she didn't have additional information she would assume that they were the ones who destroyed Kumo. On a purely tactical level it makes sense, but on the political level it seems like suicide. If they took responsibility for the attack then the other villages would unite against them. If they denied responsibility, no one would believe them. Anything could be pointed at them as proof of their guilt. Even their silence could look suspicious to the right person. For that reason, she actually believed they didn't do it.

She was suspecting the Akatsuki, though. Yes, Jiraiya had never discovered what the group's long-term goal was, but when that many S-ranked criminals gathered together it had to be for a purpose. Orochimaru would not have been persuaded to join, no matter how briefly unless there was an advantage for him. Her old teammate had not been one to be swayed by political philosophies or even power. He had desired freedom more absolute than anyone could obtain. The fact that he had left the Akatsuki was only proof that he felt he could no longer use it.

Sasuke and Naruto's information that Madara Uchiha might very well be the leader of the group was also worrisome. For the first time since assuming this office she had looked back into records almost as old as the village. She had never suspected the amount of distrust her grandfather had held regarding the Uchiha clan and Madara Uchiha in particular. Most of the animosity towards the clan she wrote off as old grudges that were never quite buried. Certainly she had no reason to distrust either Sasuke or Kado, but Madara was a different matter. She had heard about the final battle between him and her grandfather before but had always assumed Madara's body had been recovered. As it turned out, that wasn't true, and if you didn't have a body then you didn't have a confirmed kill.

She had heard of ways to prolong life. Most of them quite inhumane, and in general it was considered a taboo subject. The time involved here would be considered impressive considering how old he had been at the time of the fight. He was well past being a centenarian, and depending on when he had been born, might be pushing twice that. Living that long just seemed wrong to her. What would drive a person to cling to life for that long? Somehow, Tsunade couldn't imagine that he just wanted to sit in her chair.

Not knowing the answer to that question was why she couldn't take this information to the other villages. Like it or not, Madara would be seen as someone from Konoha and she could just imagine the anger and fear the other villages were feeling being directed at them. The mere nature of Kumo's destruction required a large enemy. The scales had to be balanced. A village's complete destruction could not be blamed on small organizations the size of the Akatsuki. Of course, if her theory was correct, Iwo was innocent in at least this regard.

So, should she take the lead on this which many of the villages seemed to want? Without a goal firmly in mind, she imagined herself being pushed forward rather than leading. If she didn't, then what? Even Shikaku Nara wasn't sure. Iwa might be the scapegoat for now, but fighting in those mountains would be costly. So, how was this to the advantage of the Akatsuki?

* * *

Musashi had only gotten this far because of his eyes. He had avoided patrols or checkpoints no matter who had set them up. He had a feeling that ninjas from his village would be at best captured even if they were carrying a diplomatic letter like he was. His Hitai-ate had been safely stored away. All of that avoidance had taken him longer to get to his final destination of Konoha then he had first thought it would. He was tired even with the use of a soldier pill. His mind may be willing but his body was telling him he was old.

Still, he had pushed forward on, certain that his mission could be accomplished, but determined to try. Cynically, he thought that his mission basically boiled down to saying, I didn't do it. He would be lucky to get past the guards. All right, he had a little more than that to say, but the irony of appealing to a village they had sought to destroy not a month ago did not escape him.

Early in the morning, he came across a Konoha patrol. For the first time, he hesitated, unsure of what to do. Reluctantly, he took out his Hitai-ate and tied it around his head before calling out to them. That went as well as he could expect. Even having a diplomatic letter didn't negate the fact he was still a ninja at war with their village. His weapons were taken and his hands bound one in front and one in back before being let off.

Two hours later he was sitting in a very large room that only had a table and two chairs. The table was just long enough that he couldn't easily reach across it and the chair was annoyingly bolted to the floor. He assumed there was a full ANBU squad scattered around him, though, he could only see three of them. At least his hands were no longer restrained and the high ceiling was preventing any claustrophobia.

The door swung open, sending a painfully bright shaft of light into the dimly lit room. Musashi lifted his head to avoid the worst of the light as he heard the footsteps of a single person step into the room. When the door shut, he lowered his gaze. "Thank you for meeting with me."

"Well, given the circumstances I could hardly resist. Not that I found the Tsuchikage's letter particularly convincing."

Musashi briefly wondered if he was talking to the real Tsunade. He had to believe he was, if only because anything else was useless. "Have you talked to your jinchuriki?"

There was a moment of cold silence before she said, "I'm aware of what happened with the ninja in question. However, he states that while he did come to the aid of one of your ninjas in fighting a third-party, they separated after they defeated the third man."

Musashi pursed his lips. He supposed that answer was better than that their jinchuriki had been lost in the battle. "So you're aware there was a third party involved in that battle."

"You mean the attack on your force that was intent on destroying my village? Yes, I am aware."

"Yes, it was an attack. It failed." He was not a diplomat and he could feel his blood starting to boil. He had, after all, lost a son in that attack. One he had not even had the time to mourn properly.

"You're angry, why?"

"My son was killed in that attack! The last thing I want is to be here talking to you right now. I want to be with my family. I want to bury my son. I would be doing that if I wasn't one of the few people the Tsuchikage trusted. We did not destroy them. To convince you of that fact is the only reason I'm here, instead of where I should be."

Tsunade was quiet after his outburst, and then, quite unexpectedly, she sat down in the chair across the table meeting his gaze. "I'm sorry for your loss. However, that's the first non-prepared thing you've said. Neither of us have the time for the usual political BS. So let's agree to be honest."

It took a moment to nod in agreement. He hadn't intended on being circumspect, but perhaps that's what she had been expecting. Besides, she had revealed a piece of information just now, she'd use the word 'us' which implied she was having her own suspicions. "We have, in the past and in this current conflict, used a group called the Akatsuki as a mercenary force. They're small in numbers but very capable."

"How do they contact you?"

He paused, briefly wondering what she knew about the group. "I'm not exactly sure. I've only met once with them and that was because I was in the room when he showed up. At that time, the Tsuchikage accused them of abducting one of our jinchuriki. Apparently, the Akatsuki all wear similar cloaks, black with red clouds. He didn't deny it."

"He just walked in and announced that?" Tsunade questioned.

Musashi grimaced, realizing how it sounded. "He just sort of appeared."

"Genjutsu?"

He shook his head. "No. He said something and then stepped out from behind a cabinet. He was there, but when I threw a kunai at him, it just went through him. He was real, I could tell." She didn't seem convinced and he realized he had one last card to play.

"Do you have any unknown kekkei genkai in your village? Maybe one of them is about thirteen or fourteen. You sent them on a mission to see why your messages weren't getting through to Sunagakure. That boy has a similar ability to mine. I'm guessing we both originated from Kirigakure, although, how he ended up here I'm sure is a story in itself. That's why I'm positive it was not a genjutsu." Tsunade's expression remained neutral, but he could tell she was surprised. "My daughter ran into him. He's very highly skilled, but she was able to slip away." That was mostly the truth. His daughter had told him that he had let her go, but there was no need to get him in trouble.

"As you said, that's another story." Tsunade said coldly, but he could tell he had won some points. "So what else happened? I'm assuming he just didn't say I took your jinchuriki and left."

"No, I wish he had." Musashi could feel himself sweating. The room was cold, but confessing to having a kekkei genkai was not something he was accustomed to doing. "He admitted to destroying Kumo and implied that we would be blamed. He then told us he was more interested in the peace than the war and just sort of... " he trailed off, unsure how to explain the man's vanishing.

"What has the Akatsuki done for your village in the past?" Tsunade questioned.

Musashi hesitated, unsure exactly what to say. "A few politically sensitive missions, and they partially helped us with our alliance with Hanzo. Of course, he's dead now and I doubt his successor will continue the alliance."

Tsunade simply nodded, and after a moment stood. "We will want to talk to you more later, but for now, write a letter to the Tsuchikage to assure him you've arrived safely."

She started to walk away and he called out, "What are you going to do? We didn't destroy Kumo. There's another enemy out there!"

"I know," she called behind her. "I'm going to request a summit in three weeks and hope we have more evidence by then."


	35. Preparations

In the end, it's the little things that make the difference.

-Reflections

* * *

Naruto had not been avoiding Shiori. It had taken a day for him to hear that several survivors of Kumo had sought sanctuary in Konoha. It had taken him another two days to hear that there was a kid with them. The first time he had tried to visit her he had been turned away by the guards stationed there. The man told him he had been placed there to prevent every gawker bothering them which apparently included him. Now, with written permission from Tsunade, the solo guard let him pass.

It was only when he was standing in front of the door that he realized he had no idea what he was going to say. It had seemed like the right thing to visit her, but wouldn't she have asked to see him if she wanted to talk to him? Unfortunately, his traitorous hand had other ideas and was already knocking.

He heard footsteps from the other side of the door and then the latch being undone. The door opened wide, revealing Shiori standing there looking tired. They stood there for a long moment, staring at each other. "Hey," Naruto said.

"Hey, care to come in?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, slinking in.

The room was a suite, and as he took it in, he saw the little kid they had rescued sitting in a corner playing with some blocks. Naruto smiled, glad to see he seemed to be okay. Other than a few other toys scattered around the room, it looked clean, and there was a door off to the side that presumably led to another room. The door that led to the balcony was open, showing a nice view of the village and letting in a light breeze.

"Would you like some tea? I was just about to have some," Shiori asked, pushing him to the side.

"Um, sure." Naruto wiped his hands on his pants, realizing his palms were sweating.

Shiori nodded towards the balcony and he wandered over to look at the village. A moment later, she joined him, pushing a cup of tea into his hand.

"This is your first bereavement call, isn't it?" Shiori asked.

"Bereavement?" Naruto asked, looking at her not understanding.

"You know, I'm sorry for your loss, he was a good ninja and all that other crap. Just the usual crap people say."

"No, I mean he was my friend and you were important to him so..." Naruto trailed off, unsure what he wanted to say.

Shiori stared at him for a moment and then looked away. "Sorry. I just…" She shook her head, "You really were his friend, you know. From the way he told it, you two were a lot alike."

"Thanks," Naruto smiled, thinking of his friend. Otonashi had once tried to persuade him to defect, but it only been halfhearted and that had been actually one of the less weird things about their friendship.

For a moment, they just stood there staring out at the village and then Shiori asked quietly, "Did he know?"

Naruto hesitated. "He gave me some advice and said he was going to rest. The last thing he said was, it a nice day."

Shiori chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like him. He always gave his opinion even when no one asked for it. You know, I really wasn't expecting some sort of last message. It wouldn't have been like him."

"I guess. So, how are you doing?" Naruto almost instantly regretted it.

Shiori stiffened, but seemed to shrug it off. "Overall, I am hanging in there. I probably had a hundred meetings and it's not like I can tell them anything really important. When I'm not doing that I'm always watching him," she jerked her head back at the kid.

"Wasn't there someone else with you?" Naruto asked.

"Shuzo? He took a team to," she hesitated, "the site." She shook her head, "he's going to head to the scatter point and stay there."

"Scatter point?" Naruto echoed.

"Yeah," she eyed him curiously as if he should know, "if the village was ever overrun, there was a place we were suppose to reform at in a month. I'm hoping everyone who was on a mission or just wasn't simply in the village at the time will go there, but I have no idea how many there'll be. We were keeping our ninja within the border because we didn't want to get involved in the damn fighting." She spat out the last two words. "A lot of good that did."

"It might not be that simple," Naruto spoke without thinking.

"And what do you mean by that?" Shiori demanded.

"Er, we're only looking into it, but another village might not have been behind the attack. Please don't repeat that."

The young woman seemed to consider that. "You weren't supposed to tell me that were you?"

"It slipped out," Naruto confirmed.

She cocked her head, drawing out the moment. "It would be wrong to get one of Otonashi's friends in trouble. Besides, it's not like there's anything I can do about it right now, is there?" She rubbed her eyes, "I don't think I've had five minutes to myself since arriving here."

"Well, if you need a break from watching him, I could do it for a while. I'm pretty good with kids," Naruto smiled, remembering how fun it was to play with Konohamaru and his friends when he had been younger.

"You sure you have the time?"

"Yeah, I can spare a few hours. Go get something to eat or whatever." He smiled reassuringly.

Shiori glanced again at the kid, considering it. "He's not really much trouble. I mean, it's not like he's putting things in his mouth or anything."

"Um, yeah." Naruto wasn't sure that was a real problem with kids his age.

She lifted her hand to brush away some of her hair and her fingers touched her Hitai-ate. For a second, her fingers lingered there, feeling the metal as Naruto watched. "Suppose I should take this off. Don't want everyone bugging me." She slowly took it off and placed it in her pocket. For some reason, that made Naruto very sad.

"Masato, I'm leaving for a little. Naruto is going to watch you, so if you need anything ask him," Shiori said, raising her voice so that he could hear her.

The boy looked up from his blocks and just nodded before going back to whatever he was doing. Shiori shrugged and mouthed thank you. Naruto smiled back and downed the remainder of his tea. When she left he walked over to Masato and sat down.

"What you building?"

"A castle," Masato said quietly.

"Want any help?" Naruto said trying to sound friendly.

Masato shrugged, "It needs another wall."

"All right." Taking that as an invitation, he grabbed a handful of the colorful blocks and started to build. For a moment they just built in silence, but then a little hand knocked over his wall. "Hey!"

"Too big. Do it right. Walls get smaller, not bigger," Masato said going back to what he was doing.

Naruto bit back his irritation. "You could've just said that. You don't have to be mean about it."

Masato's hand struck through the castle, sending a shower of colorful blocks flying across the room. The boy then sprung to his feet and ran to the other room before Naruto had even realized what had happened. Then he thought he heard a sob that was quickly choked off.

"What the…" Naruto looked at the scattered blocks, completely confused. "Masato?"

There was no response, but when Naruto tried the door he found it wedged shut. "Masato, what's wrong? You wrecked your castle." He didn't know why he had stated the obvious.

He tried the door again and then considered breaking it down, but decided that would be pretty hard to explain to Shiori. "Masato, tell me what made you angry? Did I mess up?"

Silence was his only answer. Then Naruto felt the breeze from the still open balcony door. Walking out to the balcony, he saw the window that let light into the other room. The balcony didn't reach that far, but it looked like it could be opened. So, channeling chakra to his feet and hands, he did a spider impression stepping off of the balcony's railing and scurrying to the window. Looking inside, he could see Masato in a corner with his head resting on his knees.

Trying the window, he ran into his first bit of luck, it was unlocked and he was able to crawl inside without any attention from the street below. The boy didn't even look up, even when his foot caught and he almost fell. Brushing himself off, Naruto glanced over at the door and saw a kunai wedged between the door and the track which had prevented it from sliding earlier. He was about to remove it when he realized that with the door sealed, there wasn't any other place that he could run to. Walking over to Masato, he decided to channel Iruka for inspiration.

"Masato, what's wrong? I know you can behave better than this." That last line was pure Iruka. The kid said something but it was into his knees. "What was that?"

The boy looked up, his eyes tearing up. "I said go away!" He emphasized his words by kicking the blonde in the shin. Naruto ignored it. That got him another kick and another. Masato braced his back against the wall and kicked wildly. With one swift movement Naruto grabbed one of the flailing legs and caught the other one by the foot and then pinned them both against the floor.

"Stop," Naruto tried to sound calm and firm like Iruka.

Masato's eyes were still watering and he tried to free his legs, but once that proved impossible he just covered his eyes with his forearms. Naruto felt completely out of his depth. "Masato, what's wrong?"

"I hate them."

"Me, Shiori?" Naruto suggested.

"The guys that took me."

"The Akatsuki?" He corrected himself, "Those guys in the cloaks?" The kid nodded. "We stopped them. Those two are gone. They won't come after you again." He thought Shiori would've told him that.

"Still hate them," Masato insisted.

"Well, I do too. They tried to come after me once you know."

That got the kids attention as he wiped his eyes. "Really?"

Naruto mentally shrugged, not really liking the memory, but not seeing another option. "Well, I was meditating when there was a knock at the door. These two guys in the stupid looking cloaks were there and they told me to come with them. One suggested they should cut off my legs so I couldn't run away." He wondered if that had been too gruesome to share, but the kid just sort of stared at him.

"What happened?"

He smiled. "Kind of the same thing that happened with you, someone rescued me."

The kid sniffed loudly, "I'm supposed to be strong. They gave me the Cat so I could be strong, but I'm not."

"The Cat?"

"The Two-Tailed Monster Cat," Masato clarified.

Otonashi had once told him that his village viewed their jinchuriki slightly different than the other villages. Still, the depths of that difference had not really sunk in until just now with Masato's casual admission of being the container of the demon. He decided to be equally as blunt. "Well, I've got the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox in me, and even though I was older than you, I still needed to be rescued."

"Yeah, but two is better than nine," Masato informed him.

"Really and why is that?" Despite himself, Naruto felt himself starting to smile.

"Because," Masato said in a tone that meant it was clearly obvious to him. "Nobody wants to be the ninth person. Everyone wants to be number one. I'm going to be number one even though I have the two tales."

Deciding not to argue with the kid's logic, he countered, "Well, you're going to have to beat me there."

Masato smiled for the first time, but it quickly faded away. "My family is all dead, aren't they?"

For split-second Naruto considered lying, afraid of a repeat of earlier, but lying wasn't in him. "Most likely."

He took this news with a solemn nod and Naruto gave up any hope of predicting his mood right there and then. He even wondered if the kid really understood. "You okay?"

"I thought that's what happened," the kid said slowly.

"Shiori didn't tell you?"

The younger boy shook his head. "She doesn't talk much to me."

"Oh," was all Naruto could say. He made a mental note to have a talk with her when she returned.

They were quiet for a few minutes until Masato announced, "I'm thirsty."

"I'll get you some water." Getting up, he un-jammed the door and headed towards the sink. As he started to fill the cup of water, he heard Masato come into the room and start picking up the blocks. Smiling to himself, he said, "Want to try to build that castle again?"

* * *

"Ranmaru, are you sure you're okay with this?" Sakura asked her smaller companion.

"Yeah," Ranmaru answered, smiling up at her.

Sakura smiled back, wondering not for the first time what exactly went through her younger friend's head. She showed the guard a piece of paper that gave the two of them permission to proceed. Knocking at the door, she didn't wait for an answer; knowing no sound could travel through the thick metal door.

Musashi's room had been made a little better by adding a cot and some more light, but it was still stark and shadows existed at the edges. The man they had come to talk to was seated at the table, writing something and stood at their approach.

"You were on the Hanzo assassination team," Musashi said without preamble.

Sakura was taken aback. "How did you know that?"

The man shrugged. "I saw you there. I was a bit of a captive guest, you could say. Your strength is quite impressive." He smiled in a way which made her feel that the praise was genuine.

Sakura thought back, Neji had used his Byakugan to scan for other people and then check to make sure none of them were their target. If this man was saying the truth, the only way they could have missed him was, "You were suppressing your presence."

The man shrugged, "Not much point in hiding that now. I'm assuming you and your friend didn't come here to talk about that, though."

Sakura glanced down, expecting to see Ranmaru standing at her side, but he had paused further away. She gestured for him to come closer and watch the man for a reaction. Ranmaru and the man's hair color were similar, although, the older man's had streaks of gray in his. Unfortunately, if he did give a reaction she missed it.

"So what other abilities do you have," Sakura questioned.

Musashi tilted his head, "Where I'm from, it's considered rude to ask such a thing. Especially," he emphasized the word, "if the person asking already knows the answer."

Sakura forced a smile, "I'm only half sure of that. Please tell me about your kekkai genkai." She really wasn't expecting this to go that smoothly.

"Don't you already have a guinea pig?" Musashi said nodding towards Ranmaru.

"Shut up." Those words had come quietly and firmly from Ranmaru, who was leveling a gaze at the man that could kill. "Sakura is a nice person. She's my friend, be nice. She's trying to help your village."

Musashi stared at the younger ninja for a minute and then shrugged in defeat. "At least tell me what you want to know."

Sakura smiled, and this time it was genuine. Like Naruto, Ranmaru was blunt and honest. "Can you suppress other people's presence?"

"To an extent," Musashi acknowledged. "I can eliminate someone from the sixth sense some develop. That doesn't mean they're invisible to the naked eye or that their movements don't make sounds."

"How long can you do it for?"

That question came from Ranmaru and Sakura was thankful. She knew the man wouldn't be volunteering information unless Ranmaru was involved in the conversation. She had tried to explain that to him, but a new social concept only stood about only a 50-50 chance with him.

Musashi considered for a moment, eyeing Ranmaru. "It depends. I can cover a dozen people for a few hours easily without expending too much chakra, but it goes up exponentially from there. To cover the same dozen people for a day would mean I would be useless for probably a week. I need to know the time in advance. What about you?"

"I don't have to know in advance." He said this proudly, "but I get tired the longer I do it."

The man nodded, "So, she must have succeeded. You must somehow send out chakra. I'm guessing if you were killed, though, the effect would stop."

"She?" Sakura questioned when the man seemed to retreat into his own thoughts.

"The psychotic bitch," Musashi said quietly. "I guess you figured out that our kekkai genkai is somewhat artificial. Actually, it was the brainchild of one particular person. I thought she would've been killed shortly after I fled, given the political environment of Kiri when I left." He nodded in Ranmaru's direction. "When did you leave Kiri?"

"I was never there. I was born in the country, but not the village. How can that be? Was I one of her experiments?"

The man nodded. "Most likely, at least from what I've seen our kekkai genkai doesn't breed true. Of course, you seem to be a bit different from me. She must've finally gotten around to experimenting on fetuses. I'm guessing your mother either ran away or you were smuggled out of the village by her for some reason. From what I have gathered, the village today wouldn't tolerate her type of research. A 95% failure rate makes for a lot of corpses."

Sakura was starting to feel a little sick. She really didn't want to hear more about this woman. What this woman had done was on the darker side of her profession and she did not care to dwell on it. "If what you said was true, then we have an offer to make. We're currently inclined to believe that Iwa is indeed innocent and we have a lead on the man who might have been behind the attack on Kumo. Would you be willing to accompany a team that intends to capture this man?"

"No more details?"

"Not until you agree," Sakura answered.

"Well, I'm already in your power so I suppose saying no would only lead to people thinking that I had something to hide. So, yes, I would be willing. Now, could you give me some details about this man?"

Sakura smiled. "That's a decision for the team leader to make." With that, she turned and started to walk away, Ranmaru running to catch up to her. Once the door was closed behind her, she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

"Sorry," Ranmaru said quietly.

Cracking an eye open, she looked at the boy who really was a teenager. "Why are you apologizing?"

"Hearing about the psychotic bitch upset you. I shouldn't have asked about her."

"You're curious about where you're from. Asking about it is only normal."

"Not if it upsets you," he answered with a straight face.

Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ranmaru, don't ever change."

* * *

Sasuke stared at the moon's reflection on the surface of the pond water. A light wind caused ripples to race across the surface, making the moon's reflection unrecognizable. He observed this display, but his mind was elsewhere, dwelling on the upcoming mission. Himself, Naruto, Sakura and Jiraiya was the list of names going through his head. Was it too short? Was it too long? The enemy's strength was unknown. He couldn't even confirm this wasn't a trap. Unless he went by his gut, and that could as often lie as tell the truth.

He obviously had to go because he was expected. Sakura was the best medical-nin that he knew. Naruto and he had worked together for so long that they knew how to complement each other and he was a powerhouse. Jiraiya was an unknown quantity, but he came highly recommended, and if you were going to fight a legend you really should bring your own.

His mind drifted to other possibilities, Ino chief among them. She had experience fighting against the Sharingan because of him and Kado, but those had been in controlled spars. She was also a better than average ninja and had beaten him when it came to Kenjutsu. Her Mind Transfer Jutsu could be useful. Closing his eyes, he tried to imagine the layout of the room again. If they could position the man in the proper place, it might be a very short encounter. That was assuming the man wouldn't show up early.

His hand smashed against the dock in frustration. How was he expected to design a team when he wasn't sure what he was facing? He was still having trouble getting his head around the fact that this might actually be a distant relative of his. That fact alone was causing him trouble, and now he was thinking of bringing his girlfriend along with him?

He regretted the thought almost as soon as he had it. It was unprofessional. He knew she was much more than just his girlfriend. She was a more than capable ninja in her own right, but the thought was there. The desire to protect people had slowly crept up on him. The feeling was alien to the avenger he had been, and yet the thought wasn't uncomfortable. Is this what Naruto felt? Had his friend and teammate finally started to wear off on him after all these years? Now that _was_ a scary thought, was he slowly becoming another Naruto?

Shaking his head, he tried to concentrate on the one other decision he knew he would have to make. Ranmaru's ability allowed him to hide both himself and others. That was a very useful ability, but should he bring Ranmaru or Musashi? Sakura had promised him that Musashi was capable, but was she just being overprotective of Ranmaru? He knew she had a soft spot in her heart for him.

Behind him, he heard someone approach through the grass and then the vibrations through the dock. "Yes, Kado?"

"I'm going with you."

"Not a chance," Sasuke said without turning around.

"Hear me out," the younger Uchiha begin. "First, this is a family issue. Either this is a relative of ours or someone using our name, which means it affects me. Second, I have a Sharingan which only one other person could boast and he's in the hospital. Thirdly, I already know the terrain more than anyone else you could bring with you. Fourthly, you know I can be useful even if I'm just breaking other people out of genjutsu."

"No, you don't have the experience."

"Hey, are you forgetting I helped bring down Kabuto? The number two of the infamous Orochimaru."

"Yes, you did _kill_ Kabuto," Sasuke said mockingly. "_After_ he fled from Naruto and me, you also had five others to back you up."

"The Hokage trusted my team to secure the message route," Kado said, his voice climbing with anger.

"This is S-ranked. You shouldn't even know about it."

"You know I'm capable." Kado insisted. "Is this because you still don't think I'm a real Uchiha? You don't think I deserve to be here."

Sasuke jumped to his feet and rounded on Kado, grabbing his shirt. "It's because you are an Uchiha that I don't want you there. If I die, you have to carry on the family line and that's final." Kado's eyes had become wide as Sasuke drilled into them before he let him go. Stepping around, Kado to get off the little dock, he started up the path.

"You mean that?" Kado called out.

He stopped. "I said it, didn't I?"

"So, you're saying not to go seeking revenge?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, remembering his brother and their battles. All those years that had concluded with his moment of victory that had felt like nothing. "It doesn't change things."


	36. End Game

History is a lie agreed on by consensus.

-Madara Uchiha

* * *

Neji inhaled the predawn air, letting the moist cool air fill his lungs. He moved through the halls of the Hyuga compound silently, not just out of respect for the still sleeping residents, but in deference to the somber news they had received yesterday. Hiashi had been transferred from being overdue to missing in action. The news was expected, but when something was official it carried more weight. There was a slim chance that he was injured somewhere out there, and more likely, that he had been taken prisoner, but death was the most probable reason.

A clan that produced as many ninja as they did knew this was always a possibility, and yet even in the time of a war, each loss was felt. The Hyuga took losses stoically, though, and as always, when he was in the village he rose for his morning training.

Moving through the garden on his way to the dojo he noticed a flash of bright yellow just at the corner of his eye. Pausing, he looked and recognized the long dark hair. Not losing a step, he changed directions, walking quietly behind the young girl sitting on the bench. "Hanabi, I hope you didn't stay out all night dressed like that. There are such things as summer colds, you know." The girl startled and that showed him how deep in thought she had been. His approach had been quiet, but not silent.

"Neji, you startled me."

"And you startled me. It's early in the morning for you to be up and about."

Hanabi looked down, her hand smoothing out the silk pajamas as if she was only remembering now that she was wearing them. "Couldn't sleep so I thought a little fresh air would help. The stars were out, it was nice."

Neji considered and decided to be blunt as he took a seat next to her. "Your father taught you to navigate by the stars, didn't he?"

She nodded, "He used to take me out and point out the stars. Sometimes, Hinata would come with us too. Sometimes father would point out the stars and tell us what they could be used for or just their name. Once I memorized all the constellations and could point them out, he let me make up my own."

"I remember seeing you a couple of times like that. At that time, I hated him so much."

That startled her into looking at him before quickly looking away. "Because of your father?"

"Yes," Neji said, remembering how he had held on to that hatred for so much of his childhood. "It did not allow me to see him for the man he was. I came to understand that later, fortunately."

"You trained together," Hanabi ventured.

"He trained me well, but I refer to something else. As you know, our fathers were twins, born moments apart, but one condemned to the branch family and the other to the main. I blamed him for that and continued to blame him even when you were born. Oddly, though, you were never put in the branch family although you were born several years after your sister. Officially, it was because he worried about Hinata's strength, but I don't think that was it. I think in his own quiet way he was resisting tradition. The elders couldn't disagree with his decision, since on the face of it, it made sense, but it was different, a precedent, a change."

Hanabi was quiet for a moment. "Father would ask me about tradition sometimes and I never knew what he wanted me to say. When I would repeat what I was told he would nod, but he seemed a bit disappointed I think."

"Well, I'm just telling you how I see him, as a brave and cunning man."

"Yeah. He's a great ninja."

Neji considered, wondering if referring to him in present tense had been a bad decision. "We are what we leave behind and I know he was proud of you."

"I don't want him to be gone. I want him to be here. I know that's a selfish thing to say, especially to you, but it's how I feel."

"It's not selfish. It's human. I still wish that myself. It doesn't become easier, it just becomes different." He paused for a moment, remembering his own father whose image he could only conjure from a photo. "You, however, are better off than I was. I had no friends to turn to, but you do. I know some of them are not unfamiliar with loss. Also, for what it's worth, I am here."

Hanabi looked up at him for the first time, locking her gaze to his. "Do you think there's any chance?"

Neji felt torn. Part of him just wanted to reassure the girl that everything would be okay, but another part of him knew that would be cruel. "It is very unlikely given the circumstances."

Perhaps she had been expecting that answer because she just nodded and turned her gaze back to the ground. The seconds of silence that followed seemed to stretch into infinity. "I can't remember the last thing that I said to him."

Neji nodded, he could remember himself clinging to such insubstantial things. "I think the important stuff is always left unsaid. You were his beloved daughter and anyone who saw you with him knew you adored him. You may have fought at times, but families do that and I don't think he ever doubted your love for him." Hanabi said nothing to that, and after a moment, assuming their talk was over, he started to get up.

"Wait," Hanabi's hand reached out and grabbed his forearm. "Could you just sit with me for a little while longer?"

He smiled and sat back down. "Of course."

Together, they sat in silence as the sun rose. Both of their thoughts went to their fathers, one felt an old loss still there after years and the other felt it as new.

* * *

Sasuke worried about many things as he prepared to give his final briefing to his hand-picked team. He worried that it was too small or too big. He worried that he chose wrong when selecting Musashi over Ranmaru, choosing to go with experience over slight familiarity. Then there was Jiraiya. The man had seniority over him, and although he had been nominally placed in charge of the mission, he wondered if the more experienced ninja would try to usurp him. Now that he was worried about that, he also worried if Naruto would back either him or Jiraiya if such a problem arose. As quickly as that thought came up he squashed it, realizing Naruto would either not notice or not be interested in such a petty squabble.

The older man was the last to arrive, but he wasn't late. He greeted Naruto and nodded to him. Taking that as acknowledgment of his role, he began his final briefing. "We are all here, so before we head out, here's all the information I have. Our destination is the Abandoned Uchiha Stronghold. There, I have a meeting with a man who may have been behind the attack on Kumogakure. The mission is to capture him alive, but we cannot let him escape so we'll take his head if we have to." He glanced at Sakura just long enough to inform her that it would be her responsibility if it came to that. "There is a possibility that he is Madara Uchiha, so be prepared for genjutsu."

Sasuke waited a moment to let that sink in before he knelt on the ground and performed a quick jutsu. The small patch of earth took a moment to form into a small model of the compound. "The location for the meeting was specified but not the room. As you can see , it's fairly big. Unfortunately, since it was designed by ninja, ambush spots are few and far between. There is one in the largest room and that's where I intend to meet him. Naruto will take up that position. Everyone else will wait here," he pointed to a partially collapsed outer building. "Once the battle begins, you can come to our aid, but I want you to keep a lookout for any reinforcements he might bring along with him. If they stay outside of the building, attack them first, and if they come in with him don't make a move until the fighting starts. Questions?"

"Do you know anything else about him?" Naruto questioned.

"He is old," Sasuke said, standing and letting the model collapse back into dust, "but was considered one of the strongest of his generation, and as far as I'm concerned he's a missing-nin. Legend and fact have merged around him. Honestly, we're not even sure if this meeting is genuine or an ambush to catch me. He took my brother's eyes for some reason and it's possible he's after mine. It's equally possible he's just an old man with a few tricks up his sleeve. Most of us have fought against Akatsuki members in the past. The only thing they have in common is they are strong and unpredictable."

"Great," Musashi muttered. "Is there anything you can tell us about his abilities other than he can seemingly appear out of nowhere?"

"No." Sasuke answered flatly. "They say he is a master at everything and brought the Sharingan to unheard-of levels." He shrugged not knowing what weight to give to the rumors.

"And they say you're respectable," Naruto said, directing his comment at Jiraiya.

Naruto and Sakura laughed while Jiraiya smiled weakly. Sasuke waited for the laughter to die down, like Musashi, he didn't get the joke. "As I said, we're mostly going in blind. If there are no other questions there is one more thing I need to say." He paused, making eye contact with those he knew best. "If I fall, my eyes cannot be taken. Do whatever you must, but they must be denied to the enemy."

"Yeah, you got it," Naruto said after a moment.

Sasuke nodded towards the blonde, secretly grateful. It seems they both had grown up. "Let's head out."

* * *

Last time, Sasuke had pushed his team to cover the distance in a day, but this time they didn't want to arrive exhausted so he broke it down into a two-day trip. The bulk of the distance was covered on the first day. When they set up camp it was under infiltration rules. No fire and no unnecessary talking. He was grateful for that. His mind kept switching from working feverishly on different possibilities of what he might be facing to feeling dull. It didn't feel real. He was going to meet someone who claimed knowledge of his brother who just might as easily want to kill him. If it wasn't for the sleep jutsu, he would've gotten none.

The next morning, they split up. Sasuke took a radio and walked until he was almost out of Musashi's sight. From here on out, the foreign ninja would be concealing the others presence, and if there were any unseen observers they would hopefully only notice him from here. With the others out of visual range, Sasuke felt strangely isolated. In the past, he had done solo missions and never felt this way before, though. He wrote it off to nerves, which didn't make him feel any better.

He carried on, his senses alert, almost hoping for an ambush to break the tension. As much as he tried to will an ambush, all he heard was the ambient sounds of the forest around him. When the ruins of the compound came into view, he raised his arm to wipe away sweat and said into his radio, "I'm heading in. Hold positions until I give the all clear."

There was a brief crackle of static and then Sakura's voice. "Musashi says it's clear, but check-in every three minutes." Personally, Sasuke thought that was a bit excessive, but he confirmed and headed in.

When Sasuke reached the main entrance he called out to see if the man he was here to meet had already arrived, but only the insects and ghosts heard him. Checking the abandoned stronghold by himself was frustrating. He kept drifting in and out of radio range either due to distance or the thick walls themselves. As far as he could tell, though, he had been the last person here and gave the all clear signal for the others to move into their positions.

Naruto ran up to meet him, a silly grin on his face. "Jiraiya and I had an idea on the way here." Sasuke grunted, which was his way of saying that the blonde should continue. "Since I'm going to be in the room with you, we were thinking that maybe I could use the Toad Mouth Bind to capture the guy."

Sasuke found the name vaguely familiar, but was not able to place an image with it. "What exactly is that technique?"

His friend frowned before he seemed to remember. "Oh, that's right, you were unconscious. Jiraiya used it on your brother that one time at the Inn. You were out for like a month, remember?"

He did remember that. What happened afterwards had been relayed to him. "Your point?"

Naruto blinked at him. "Well, if I use it, the… mouth kind of captures his arms and feet. Then we can restrain him. The only disadvantage to summoning it is that the others will be trapped on the outside and won't be able to help us, and your brother did manage to escape using that black fire stuff. Of course, we don't know if he can use that."

Sasuke considered as he led Naruto into the building. Even if the man could escape, this might be a good way to distract him for a split second when he attacked if nothing else. The trouble would be the timing. He was supposed to try to pump the man for information if possible before attacking. "Hold it in reserve," Sasuke announced. "We have no idea about his capabilities, but he might at least have an idea of mine. You on, the other hand, are a complete unknown. So, keep the summoning in the bag and the same goes for the excessive use of clones."

"All right," Naruto said, placing his hands behind his head.

Sasuke showed Naruto where to hide. There was a small lip around the room where the ceiling and wall met. Either by accident or design, the lip was slightly larger in one area, allowing one person to be concealed if they crouched and were careful enough. A person could be concealed and remain hidden from anyone on the floor. It wouldn't be comfortable for Naruto, but that was his problem, Sasuke thought. Retreating to the floor, he double checked, making sure Naruto was safely concealed and checked his radio. The others were out of range which was a problem, but not one they could do anything about. He quickly ran back towards the entrance to give them a quick update and told them to use their best judgment in moving in before retreating back to the large room. He sat, perhaps a little presumptuously, on the stone throne and began to wait.

By not specifying a time, the man had given himself the only possible advantage. The ground was neutral, and the date selected had been at the time far into the future. That had only left the exact time of the meeting. Someone waiting in ambush would have to wait hours. It would also allow boredom to set in, because no matter how vigilant you were, there was a limit. Of course, if he had watched them from a distance, the man would've seen the setup. At least that's what he would've done, which made this whole exercise pointless. Then again, maybe not, he could be arrogant enough to believe he would spot any ambush before they were sprung.

Such were Sasuke's thoughts as the sun crept across the floor, the only proof that time was passing. He had at least one advantage over others at least; he could get up and walk around the room. Morning turned to afternoon and he had a small, prepared lunch, and just as he was finishing the air in front of him seemed to twist around. It was almost like a heat illusion, but somehow more focused. Instinctively, he leaned forward, his hand tightened on the hilt of his sword that he had leaned against the stone throne. The twisting space resolved itself into a human shape.

"Hello, Sasuke," the man said removing his mask.

Consciously, Sasuke tried to relax leaning back, but not letting his grip loosen on his sword. "A neat trick. Genjutsu?"

There was a pause just long enough to indicate that the man had not been expecting that question. "More like a Shunshin, but not really like that at all."

"Informative," Sasuke said, trying to keep the sarcasm in his voice. "So, the unadulterated truth is what I believe you promised me."

The man stared at him for a minute, obviously trying to regain his footing. "Yes, the truth about your brother. Of course, before I tell that story I have to go back a little further. As always, the seeds of one-story come from the flower of another. Tell me what you know of our clan's history."

"History is a lie agreed on by consensus," Sasuke said.

The man was silent for a second before he laughed. The sound echoed around the room, giving it a hollow nature. The man's allowed his mask to clatter to the floor. "To have yourself quoted," he shook his head slightly, "stroke your ego in a way few things can. However, as I am the person who said that, let me add an addendum to it. It's not history if you were there."

Sasuke decided that this was indeed Madara as he sat and listened. It was a long, rambling story. He knew some of it and some parts he did not. He was almost tempted to believe the depths and capabilities of the Sharingan and the evolved form of Mangekyo Sharingan, but the price was repulsively high, even if it allowed him to control a demon. The loss of an eye was a common enough injury in their profession, but there was something macabre about the fact that the eyes looking at him now belonged to a man now decades dead. Then came the revelations about his brother and those were the hardest.

At first he felt anger, his hitai-ate even began to burn on his forehead, but he squashed that feeling down. Madara had every reason to lie to him. However, the more he heard the more he believed the man was telling the truth. That was when he started to feel detached. To him, his father and mother would always be the people who raised him, but to the village, they had been a threat. He wasn't sure what he felt. It was a decade ago, a lifetime. He flashbacked to staring down at his dead brother and wondered what had been his story now forever out of reach. For the first time, in a long time, he wanted to know his brother.

Despite his change of thoughts, he was a professional and he had a mission to do. "So, you're saying my brother acted as an assassin because my clan was planning a coup d'état. He then joined the Akatsuki, which you happen to be a member of." He allowed contempt for the convenience to slip into his tone.

"His intention was to spy. He knew I was always the one pulling the strings. Unfortunately, due to a combination of his deteriorating physical health and his inability to reconcile what he had done, he was not a very useful spy." Madara held his gaze as unblinking as a statue.

"So what was the purpose of this, Akatsuki, anyways? Just to gather jinchuriki so you could become one? So you could become like the Sage of the Six Paths? To what purpose?"

For the first time, Madara hesitated as he began to smile slowly. "Well, I wish to become the sole source of stability in the world. I will become the pillar that will hold the world aloft, to create a better world, one that I will guide for an eternity."

"A single man?" Sasuke question.

The man shook his head, "Not quite. One of my secondary purposes of forming the Akatsuki was to find individuals that could be the core of a very small army. Several of them, like me, had effectively conquered death. They knew what they wanted and I was prepared to give it to them."

"So, you and a handful of men would do this? You are reaching beyond your grasp. You would have to take on every village and one village brought the Kyubi to heel."

The man smirked and it lacked the evident malevolence Sasuke suspected was behind it. "The villages will not be much of a problem. With the destruction of Kumogakure, I've turned them into a paranoid mess. Kirigakure is drawing up plans even now to destroy Iwagakure. Even if they don't manage to destroy it, at least two of the great powers of the world will be left weakened. Smaller villages will move to fill the gap left by those villages, causing even more conflict. In a few years, people will be begging for the stability I can bring. You can, and should, be there with me."

Sasuke let the silence stretch out as if he was considering. "If these jinchuriki are so powerful how do you intend to capture them?"

The man made a dismissive gesture. "That feat is mostly done. All but three have been captured and their chakra is being stored in special scrolls."

"Not kept on your person, I assume?" Sasuke interrupted.

The man leveled a contemplative look at him. "Nekobaa has more places to store items then even she or her granddaughter is aware of."

Nekobaa, Sasuke thought, he had not thought of the cat woman in years. He considered for a moment and realized there was only one question, he needed to ask. "Why did you take my brothers eyes?"

"I was wondering when you were going to get to that." The man's hand disappeared into his black robes and produced a small jar that had two roughly spherical objects in it. "It is said that one must feel the loss of the person closest to them to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, but that was written when even the concept of any strong relationship outside of the clan was deemed inconceivable. It must be the death of a clan member, and like it or not, your brother helped mold you into the person you are. Perhaps you've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan already, but are unaware of it. If you have, though, it's only a pale imitation of its true power. The true power is brought forth when you transplant the eyes from one to another. Consider them a welcome home gift."

Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to tamp down his roiling emotions. This man's manipulative ability was disgusting, but he tried to find an island of peace in his mind. Throughout the conversation he had been fiddling with his sword, and without so much as a word, he let it come to rest in his hand. He sprung forward, drawing it from its sheath without saying a word

* * *

Sakura had watched Musashi's deteriorating condition with some alarm. The older man was propped up against the wall, sweating as if he was in the desert of the Land of Wind. The man had also started popping soldier pills like they were candy, and worst of all, she could do nothing for him. When she had asked, the man had just snapped that he was older than he had thought he was. Still, he kept a lookout as best as he could, his head scanning back and forth, pupils red like Ranmaru's.

"There's someone out there," Musashi whispered before adding, "I think it's a person."

The statement grabbed both Jiraiya and her attention immediately. "Approaching?" Sakura asked in a low whisper.

The man shook his head slowly. "He is next to the tree or maybe in it."

The two ninja shared a look before following his line of sight into a wall. Carefully, Sakura crept to the window and peered out and froze as she spotted a familiar form. The man, if such a term could be used, was partly merged with a sapling that had obviously only grown since the compound was abandoned. The half that wasn't merged with the sapling was not what was familiar to her. The only difference was, instead of being black, it was white. She mentally cursed.


	37. Clash of Generations

There is no fortress that is untakeable, no position unassailable and no man unkillable. This is the first law. This is the only law.

-The epitaph of the First Hokage

* * *

Naruto pressed his legs against the wall in a semi-successful attempt to stretch. A little while ago, he had heard Sasuke walking around down there and he never thought he would envy someone for such a minor thing. He wanted to stand and stretch, but he had to stay concealed. Then he heard Sasuke's voice and he cocked his head trying to figure out if his friend was talking to him or not. Then he heard another voice, faint and unfamiliar.

His first reaction was to poke his head over the edge to see, but training kicked in and he used his little mirror instead. Naruto tilted the mirror just so that the top was peering over the edge at an angle, and when he saw a strange man's back was turned to him, he tilted the mirror forward further to get a better view around the room. The voices were still unintelligible, but they both appeared casual.

Satisfied that the man was focused entirely on Sasuke, he used the mirror to peer around the rest of the room. The man appeared to have come alone. Everything was going according to plan it seemed.

* * *

"This isn't good," Sakura muttered.

"You have history?" Jiraiya asked, quietly sparing a glance at the intruder for himself.

"Yes, no," Sakura said, her mind racing before realizing she wasn't making any sense. "I fought someone that could merge with trees like that. He was very fast and I think he could create weapons out of his own body. He was all black, though, and this one is all white."

"Were the weapons like bones?"

Sakura shook her head. "They were more like obsidian, I think. Honestly, I didn't do much post-op battle analysis. Things were bad for us at the time. I'm positive he was dead though. I made sure of that."

Jiraiya glanced over at Musashi, who was in no shape to fight. "We'll take him by ambush, but we can't risk it until something happens inside."

Sakura nodded as the older ninja laid out his plan.

* * *

Naruto realized a second too late that the trouble with not being able to hear the confrontation between Sasuke and Madara was that when the attack came he had no warning. Sasuke was sitting one moment and attacking the next. For a split-second, it looked like he would take the man by complete surprise, but then Sasuke passed right through him. At first, Naruto thought genjutsu, but the man spun around and struck Sasuke sending him to the ground as the man bellowed. "You stupid boy. You're just like the rest of the traitors!"

Naruto grabbed his kunai and jumped over the edge. Landing in a crouch just behind the man, he sprung forward. He had hoped to take the man by surprise, but just like Sasuke, his arm passed right through, meeting no resistance. Then, the man who had been right in front of him disappeared.

"What a pair you two make, a traitorous Uchiha and the jinchuriki for the Demon Fox, the two greatest banes of my existence in the same room together."'

Naruto spun around when he heard the voice from behind him, Madara was seated in the same stone chair Sasuke had been in not a minute ago. Belligerently, he was reclining as if the situation was just a minor inconvenience. Before Naruto could react, the word jinchuriki was in the air and his blood ran cold with anger. His expression seemed to amuse the man.

"You never told anyone that, did you? Not surprising, most people don't take it well, for a good reason. What do you think of it, Sasuke?"

He could hear Sasuke start to climb to his feet. Despite knowing better, Naruto glanced back. His friend looked shaky and he must've landed on his left arm badly because his wrist was hanging at an unnatural angle. When Sasuke took a step forward, it was more like a shuffle, which made Naruto wonder about nerve damage.

"You have a demon in you, Naruto? That actually makes sense. At least that must be why my brother tried to grab you that one time at the inn. So, I guess this guy knows all about you if he knows that. Of course, from what I've seen, he's got nothing on my brother. He's like a cheap copy." He took another step forward and then another, each slow and ponderous, but when Sasuke walked past him, Naruto could see the kunai in his curled hand and he realized Sasuke was acting as he shuffled another step forward. "This guy's got more tricks than my brother, but that's all he has." The words clicked in Naruto's mind as Sasuke's wrist flipped forward, throwing the kunai that had a burning tag attached and they both jumped back, Sasuke's injury suddenly disappearing.

The sound of the blast was enhanced by the confined space, and with his ears still ringing, Naruto bit his thumb to summon the Toad Mouth Bind. The cement turned to flesh that both gave underfoot and clung.

"Clones," Sasuke shouted.

Naruto summoned his small personal army and sent them forward in a pell-mell rush at Sasuke's far removed grandfather. The sounds of them being destroyed could be heard over their shouts, but the numbers obscured the view of what exactly was going on. Sparing a glance over at his partner, he asked, "Did you get everything we needed?"

"I learned enough and I don't think we'll be able to take him alive. He may be strong, but I don't think he has much stamina so wear him down. "

Just as Sasuke finished speaking, a fireball erupted, engulfing the remainder of the clones.

* * *

Sakura reflected that the trouble with relying on split-second timing was the split-second timing. There had been a contingency plan in place to deal with any extra people their target might bring, but they hadn't planned for a person that could travel through the ground, or the trees, or whatever. She was partially basing her information off of the previous fight, and that may not apply here, but it was all they had. At least the man seemed to be unaware of their presence. Musashi's suppressant ability really seems to be paying dividends there.

The muffled explosion from inside the building sounded like a dull thud by the time it had made its way through the fortified walls. That was her signal and she rose from the rubble, throwing a nondescript brown snow ball sized sphere. It landed in front of the tree the man was merged with, drawing his attention for a split-second before it exploded in a blinding white light. Sakura, being prepared, had shielded her eyes and was just in time to see Jiraiya summon a toad the size of her parent's house. Then, the toad's tongue shot out, wrapping around the man and tree, ripping them from the ground and into its cavernous mouth. The yellowish toad swallowed the mouthful and patted its stomach.

Sakura waited for a moment, but then the toad disappeared in a puff of smoke and Jiraiya started running for the entrance. She followed, and despite the situation, her curiosity got the best of her. "Are you sure he can't just get out?"

Jiraiya spared a glance back at her as they ran down the corridor. "Most creatures that can be summoned, and my toads in particular, are not what you would consider normal. Their insides can be just as tough as their outsides. Shunshin and techniques like it simply don't work. In fact, I've only heard of two people escaping from the inside of any summons. The first was a very powerful missing-nin who used an attack I had never seen before to blow a hole through it."

"And the second," Sakura questioned.

"It was Naruto. He summoned enough clones to burst the snake that had swallowed him from the inside. Trust me, that isn't something most people would even think of trying, let alone being able to do." They turned down a corridor and both stopped in surprise. The doorway was covered by some fleshy pulsing mass.

Sakura's medical training had rendered her immune to any instinctive repulsion and she took a step forward more out of morbid curiosity than anything else. "What is it?"

Jiraiya's hand landed on her shoulder stopping her. "That's the Toad Mouth Bind, or at least what it looks like from the outside. Clearly, they were worried about the target running away. There's no way we can get in."

Sakura thought for a minute and said hopefully. "Then they're confident they don't need our help to capture him."

The older ninja gave her a look. "Did I mention that the missing-nin who escaped was related to our current quarry?"

* * *

The Rasengan passed straight through Madara and Naruto had to duck and roll away from the kunai thrown at his back. The heat from the fireball Sasuke produced was so close that it felt like it singed his hair and he spared a glance backwards. Annoyingly, the man's clothing weren't even singed. They were supposed to be wearing this guy down, but he wasn't sure if they were making headway or not.

On the other hand, he was starting to feel the drain of all of his lost clones. Despite the noticeable drain, he created another half-dozen clones and sent them in to distract the man. Still, was the man holding back or was the fact he was also dodging attacks instead of just letting them pass through significant?

Retreating to a distance, he watched as each clone was dispatched. Madara had only pulled off two jutsu since his initial fireball and both times had been to keep the walls from closing in on him too far. Still, the ceiling had descended to almost a normal height, making the battlefield wide and long, but not very tall. Naruto's instincts were telling him the man was playing for time. He didn't want to see what would happen when it ran out.

That left him with the question, how could you take someone down, but not hit them? Genjutsu was out of the question for him at least. Sasuke maybe, but since the other man hadn't used any he guessed the two were just afraid of canceling each other out. No, he had to think of something else. Otonashi would probably have had some sort of poison. It was a shame that Kankuro and Otonashi never met. They probably could have come up with some sort of poison gas that killed instantly. Well, then again, maybe it had been for the better they had never met. The thought of gas stayed with him and then he realized why. Casting a glance around the room, he put together a plan and created a clone to confer with Sasuke.

His teammate quickened the return of the information to him by stabbing his clone, which had been totally unnecessary. Still, the jerk had not said no. They both started to pull back to the far end of the room, watching as the last few clones coldly dispatched. Madara turned towards them almost casually. "Is that it? I'm not impressed. Are you just trying to get me tired so this thing will swallow me? I really did overestimate you Sasuke."

"We're just testing you!" Naruto shouted, annoyed at being ignored while trying not to look like he was looking past the man.

The Toad Mouth Bind was a bit of a misnomer. They were actually in the esophagus of a fire breathing toad. The esophagus took the shape of the enclosed area it was summoned in and then tried to swallow the prey. The swallowing action could be controlled or it would swallow friend and foe alike. Unfortunately, it took a lot of concentration to control it. Trying to close the area off behind Madara slowly enough that he wouldn't notice was a difficult first attempt.

"You know," Madara said, "I'm guessing you have at least three people outside. Just so you know, I had someone following behind me. Your friends are most likely dead by now."

Sasuke stepped forward, taking the distracting duty from Naruto. "You shouldn't underestimate us. After all, we were able to ambush you. If you were smart you would've been scoping the place out before we arrived."

"I didn't want to scare you off," Madara snapped. "I thought you might be cautious, I didn't realize you're a cowardly dog. Loyal no matter how much abuse is heaped upon you or your family."

The esophagus closed behind the man.

"Shut up!" Naruto said taking a step forward. "You old people always talk too much. Let's see how well you can fight when you can't see." Grabbing his weapons pouch, he flared his chakra, activating the remaining exploding tags. Tossing it well to the side of Madara, it exploded, setting off all of his smoke bombs, producing a big white cloud of smoke. Sasuke copied his actions, producing another thick cloud.

With what was left of his strength, Naruto created one hundred clones and sent them forward as the esophagus started to close on their side. His goal was to create a second chamber like the toad was trying to swallow two grapes whole, but it got stuck.

Between the smoke and the clones, Naruto hoped Madara would be too distracted to notice the shrinking of the chamber. As the hole became smaller and smaller, Sasuke stepped up to it and released the largest fire technique Naruto had ever seen. For the brief second he could see it, he would've sworn it looked like a dragon. Then the hole was closed.

The silence that followed was strange. Outside of the secondary chamber, Naruto received tidbits from his remaining clones. A good portion of them had been taken out by the dragon headed fireball, but a few were still there fighting in smoke-filled air. As the clones reported back, the breathable air seemed to be running out. The toad's esophagus was airtight because the fire it breathed could only be stopped when the supply of fuel was cut off. Fire needed oxygen to burn and people needed oxygen to live. Between the clones and the fireball, the oxygen was being severely depleted. The last clone didn't meet a violent end, but just seemed to pass out.

"I think he's done."

"Wait," Sasuke said holding up his hand. "Count to 1000 and then we'll check."

"A thousand?" Naruto question.

"What, you can't count past twenty?"

Despite his exhaustion and the situation Naruto stuck out his tongue and proceeded to count aloud just to annoy his friend. After reaching 1000, he allowed the esophagus to relax. There was something almost like a breeze as the chamber reopened, clearing most of the smoke.

The body laid face down on the floor, already starting to be sucked in by the esophagus. They approached cautiously, but it didn't stir. For second Naruto thought he saw a man breathing, but it was just an ordinary illusion. Kneeling down on one knee Sasuke to the quick search, but came up empty. Then without explanation Sasuke grabbed the corpse by the hair and using his sword like a pair of scissors sliced off a handful.

"Why did you do that?" Naruto asked for more he was standing a safe distance away.

Sasuke looked up at him with a strange expression on his face. It was the closest he had ever seen the stoic ninja to being desperate. "I know we're supposed to retrieve his head at the very least, but I'm asking you not to do that, Naruto. He told me some things that should remain unsaid. If they start poking around his head, that information could be dangerous. So, why don't we just let this toad have a small snack?" The now oldest Uchiha looked down and added, "He should've been fertilizer a long time ago anyway."

Naruto stared at his friend. For a brief second he considered asking what the secret was, but if it was shaking Sasuke this much then perhaps it should be destroyed. From the recesses of his mind the memory of their first team meeting came back to him. He had been so eager in Sasuke had seemed unshakable. He supposed both of them had come a long way since then. Naruto nodded and they both took several steps back and allowed the corpse to be swallowed. They watched it disappear in silence and then the esophagus itself started to fade away.

"Naruto, Sasuke!" Sakura shouted as she ran into the room before stopping a few steps away. "What happened?"

"We got him." Naruto offered.

"But the toad swallowed his body. We managed to obtain some of his hair, though, to prove it wasn't all one big Genjutsu." Sasuke added, holding out the clump of hair.

"It looks like the toads are eating well today," Jiraiya said. "We had to deal with one enemy. He went down a toad's gullet too. Did you get all the information we needed at least?"

Sasuke seemed to do a quick review of the data and nodded. "He told me everything. They extract the demon chakra from the people they captured and stored it in scrolls. He was hiding them in an abandoned city. The Uchiha clans stored some weapons there, but it's cavernous." He smiled slyly, "With Naruto's help, I'm pretty sure we can find them in about an hour."

"You only use me for my clones." His joke fell flat and he asked a more serious question. "Do you think we got enough information? I mean Iwagakure isn't exactly innocent in this, but they didn't destroy Kumogakure."

Jiraiya's answer wasn't reassuring. "Only time can answer that question."

* * *

The wind blew as Iruka turned away from the Hokage monument and ran his hand through his graying, but thankfully still full hair to straighten it out. "That was the end of the war for all intensive purposes. At the Kage Summit, Tsunade laid out her evidence, clearing Iwagakure of the destruction of Kumogakure. It was coldly received, but with no forbidden weapons involved, tempers calmed down. The fact that the Tailed Beasts were returned to their original villages smoothed most things over. All countries reverted back to their pre-war boundaries and there was peace."

"The daimyo of the Land of Lightning ordered that a new village was to be founded over the bones of the old one. Most of the survivors drifted there along with numerous rogue ninjas and a large group from Iwa. They didn't exactly have the Tsuchikage's permission, but he didn't do anything to stop them and it was one way of solving his village's financial troubles. Shiori and her then adopted son chose not to join. I believe she said it was just an imitation of home or something like that."

"There's been peace between the villages since then, or at least as much as there ever can be. As long as humans have ambition there will be conflict, and as long as there is conflict there will be ninja." His eyes drifted to Ayameko, the nine-year-old girl whose question started his long lecture. "Sorry, I guess I digressed a little there." The girl nodded her eyes wide and spellbound. As he looked over the rest of the class he saw similar expressions and felt a twinge of pride that he had managed to give a nearly two-hour lecture to a group of 8 to 9-year-olds without any trouble. He still had it.

Also, for the first time, he realized how many of his current students were the children of those he had talked about. There was Masa, youngest child of Neji and the weapons sensei Tenten, her eyes pale and forehead proudly bare. Kazuo, her cousin, sat close to her, having inherited his father's eyes and distinctive lavender hair color.

Hitoshi Uchiha sat a little further away from them. As usual, he was playing intermediary between the two groups of friends that couldn't be allowed to sit near each other. The first of the other group was Hitoshi, cousin to Ryuuma Uchiha. The boy either took after his father or uncle because he was widely considered a prodigy and had been skipped ahead. He had inherited more of his mother's personality then his father's though. Nae Sarutobi sat close to him because he was her honorary adopted little brother, or at least that's what she always said. Iruka froze at the blank space in the tightly packed group. Calmly, he asked. "Where is Yukio?"

The class was predictably silent for a moment and then a girl shouted, "Up there!"

Iruka spun around to look at the monument behind him. Part of his mind thought that at least the pink haired boy had enough consideration to keep his vandalism to only his father's image as he muttered, "I'm getting too old for this."

* * *

Authors final note: Well, I hope you enjoyed the trilogy. It's been a long road for me at least nearly 100 reviews this time around. I'll still be writing fan fiction but I'm going to have a few chapters in reserve before I start posting. In the meantime I encourage everyone to go over and check out Jonohex and his stories. I definitely recommend Kirigakure's Shore and its prequel The Broken Tool. Both are excellent as are the rest of his works.


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